Is Prayer That Great?
Prayer is not always a good idea. Somebody has to say it.
Many of my objections are in the phrase, Prayer is talking to God, and Meditation is Listening. We love to talk, and don’t have time to listen. Talking is yang, active, power. Listening is ying, receptive, passive, and indicates respect for the person you are paying attention to.
No one ever says I am going to meditate for you. Although maybe you should.
Prayer is used as an aggressive weapon. “I am going to pray for you” is the condescending conclusion of many religious arguments. I have had it shouted at me like a curse.
There is also the matter of prayer as entertainment. While this may be cool to those who are on the program, it can be repulsive to others. Once I volunteered to lead the prayer before a dinner. The story is repeated below.
Now, prayer is not a completely bad thing. One of the cherished memories of my father is the brief, commonsense blessings he would give before meals. In the context of a church service, prayer plays a useful function. Some famous prayers are beautiful poetry. In Islam, the daily prayers are an important part of the observance. Who am I to say it is wrong? (A note to the Muslim haters, and other opportunists …We are all God’s children.)
When someone is in a bad way, people want to think they can help. While it does not hurt to pray for someone, but it is nothing to boast about.
The problem is when people are proud of their prayers. There are few as prideful as a “humble servant.” While it may mean something to you, not everyone is impressed. And in a religion devoted to converting others, you should care what people think.
So much for world affairs. It is time to tell a story, with no moral and no redeeming social value. In 1980, I was staying at a place called the Sea Haven Hostel, affectionately known as Sleaze Haven. This was in Seattle WA, as far as you can get from Atlanta, and still be in the lower 48. I was working through Manpower, and staying in a semi-private room for $68 a month.
There was a Christian group that met in the basement on Sunday Night. Now, as some of you may know, I am a recovering baptist, who hasn’t been to church since 1971. However, the lure of a free meal was hard to resist, so I went to a few meetings.
One night, after sampling the neighborhood beer supply, I cheerfully joined in the discussion. This was the night when I realized that the Bible is not “the Word of God.” This concept has been very handy in dealing with the ravings of our Jesus-mad culture.
They seemed to like me, though, and welcomed me back. Maybe it was the southern accent.
One Sunday, after the dinner was finished , it was time to have a prayer to begin the meeting. I raised my hand. Now, believers enjoy prayer as entertainment. When they bow their heads, you see them stretching, in anticipation of a good, long, message for God.
My prayer was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of a long winded lecture about Jesus and the magic book, I said what was on my mind. “Lord, thank you for letting us be here today.” What else do you need to say? This double repost has pictures from The Library of Congress.
The Whole Nine Yards
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Some Thoughts On The UCLA Chaos What if widespread disorder is. . . bad? And should …
Israel tells U.S. it will punish Palestinian Authority if ICC issues warrants
Mozart was baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.
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‘Let the coach and GM pick’: Panthers owner pays Charlotte restaurant surprise visit …
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The Mysterious Origins of the Phrase ‘The Whole Nine Yards’ By Ellen Gutoskey
#452 – The Strawberry Statement 2024 / The Eternal Adderall Shortage
So Columbia Really Screwed This Up, Huh? Plus some other thoughts on the protests …
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We Don’t Need Warrior Cops Policing Campus Protests Heavily armed …
Daily Wire Issued Gag Order Against Candace Owens During Public Debate Negotiations
Media is Engaged in a Coverup of Biden’s Epic Foreign Policy Failure in Niger.
boogie nights ~ putney swope ~ bukowski ~ ramon navarro ~ ucla
amadeus ~ zoom 5-5-24 ~ namaste ~ hamas ~ nico ~ kink down south ~ Manley Pointer
repost ~ racist ~ walk this way ~ october 7 ~ hasbara
meitnerium ~ mahmood od ~ lord of light ~ lol ~ early voting
#nationalpoetrymonth 29/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 30/30 ~ this is your monday morning reader for today. The photograph was taken by Jack Delano in October 1940. “French-Canadian potato farmer waiting with a truckload of potatoes at a starch factory in Caribou, Maine for his potatoes to be graded and weighed” Photo caption by X. ~ Priestess Serena Malone, administrator at Church of Satan, told Reuters via email that Satanists are atheists and do not have prayers. “So, it is a hoax,” Malone said. “Hysterical Christians have been spreading that nonsense about ‘LOL,’ but there is no basis in truth for that silly rumor. ~ my spirit animal is a raccoon, because I’m cute but love to eat garbage, just watch me go home an hour too soon, with abusive relationship baggage, eye doctor: what brings you in here today?, i’m having trouble seeing the red flags, coke in a bathroom the very next day, a fitness class is good for scumbags, inspired by the tweets of @sarafcarter ~ joy of finding change in a payphone, wear a dress backwards for charm, hillary clinton for president crone, def leppard drummer with right arm, hairball retrieved from shower drain, can be dried out and glued on tight, oreo stuffing fights toothpaste pain, two wrongs do not make you right, out of toilet paper? find a doggie, lick mud you find at a port a pottie, say “you” instead of “u” in a text, when you cry wolf at night after sex, grace to know the difference between, true wisdom and clever string of sheen ~ Manley Pointer, an Atlanta based poet, is currently using the voice of Luther Mckinnon to give readings. Mr. Pointer, the illegitimate son of George P. Burdell, does not make personal appearances. The next performance will be Monday, May 6, at Java Lords in Little Five Points. ~ Atlanta poet Manley Pointer is currently using the voice of @chamblee54 to give readings. Mr. Pointer, the son of George P. Burdell, does not make personal appearances. Java Lords L5P 05/06/24 ~ @XavierRyanXXX @Cumrade_Powers @Sherman_Maus @Adam1DAAT @CarltonHouseton ~ blinken said he is hopeful Hamas will accept Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” offer for a cease-fire in Gaza in return for the release of hostages. “In this moment, the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas,” ~ @coldxman “free speech,” the related debates, can be a dandy distraction from the life and death issues “antisemitism” is the current red herring. October 7 rape has been exploited as much as it can be. Who knows what the next shiny object will be? ~ this is a resonse to a comment on reddit. … “Regarding Israel-Gaza war/conflict and neutrality in war. … I couldn’t care less about it. … Sure it’d be great if people didn’t have to suffer and they could find peace….but I really couldn’t care less if they didn’t and decided to blow each other up instead. That’s on them. Here is my comment: I just wish that were the case. Fwiw, I am on team Palestine. 1 – The United States is supplying weapons to Israel. We are seen as enabling the bad behavior by Israel. 2 – There is a possibility of a war with Iran. Even if the USA does not have forces involved, a major conflict involving Iran could be disastrous. Iran can shut down the Strait of Hormuz. This would prevent a significant portion of the world’s oil supply from reaching the market. This could have a devastating impact on the world economy. 3 – Iran has a strong military, as does Lebanon/Hezbollah. The Iron Dome is not infallible. There is a possibility that these actors could do enormous damage to nuclear armed Israel. If it appears that hostile forces are going to “wipe Israel off the map,” then Israel might use nuclear force. This would have serious consequences for the environment. ~ Little 5 Poetry Bash, And Han Vance Present, Manley Pointer, With Luther Mckinnon, May 6, 2024 1830 – 2130, Open Mic Signup 1800, Java Lords 1105 Euclid Ave ~ Cognitive Dissonance is a handy concept. Another one is Narcotizing Dysfunction. That is when you hear so much about a topic, you cannot stand to hear another sentence. ~ Once a man was driving, with a penguin in his car. The officer pulled him over, said to take it to the zoo. Next day, the man and the penguin had shades on. The same officer pulled him over. “I told you to take him to the zoo” “I did officer, now I am taking him to the beach.” ~ @TylerChaseXXX @AdamGravesXXX @ConnorTaylorXXX ~ the spell check suggestion for inebrience is inebrience ~ “… always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” Elie Wiesel said this in his acceptance speech for the 1986 Nobel Peace prize. The next paragraph was about “the Palestinians.” Facebook memes are *never* the answer to complex problems. ~ Show Me Where Your Wooden Leg Joins On, You Can Get Another One From Amazon, Hope You Don’t Think I Believe That Crap!, I May Sell Bibles But I Know A Trap, Catholic Salvation Might Disappoint Her, Give Me Back My Leg Young Manley Pointer, From “Good Country People” Flannery O’Connor ~ This is a repost from 2017. ~ “the only traditions of the Royal Navy are rum, sodomy and the lash.’ Churchill’s assistant, Anthony Montague-Browne said, that although Churchill had not uttered these words, he wished he had. ~ I wrote a blog post about Churchill , including this tidbit. I wanted to mention this item in a conversation, and did a google advanced search. Google did not want me to find this. I finally looked in a list of blog posts that I keep. ~ In 1937, Mr. Churchill spoke before the Peel Commission It was discussing “partitioning British mandated Palestine into Arab and Jewish states.” At the time, Mr. Churchill was a minor figure in British politics, disgraced by his blundering in the Great War. The quote: “I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place.” ~ 007 0515 0504f 0515f petition the lord ~ This is a repost from 2021. ~ report: Hamas Accepts Gaza Cease-fire Deal; Israeli Officials Reject Prospect of War Ending. According to the report, Hamas was guaranteed by the U.S. for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and that Israeli forces will not continue fighting once the hostages are released. An Israeli official told Haaretz that ‘Israel will, under no circumstances, agree to end the war as part of a deal’ and is determined to enter Rafah ~ @wildethingy Jokes about schrodinger’s cat are dead. Unless you’ve not heard them before. But I won’t know that, until I post them. ~ @BarakRavid 🚨NEW: Israeli warned the Biden administration that if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, it will take retaliatory steps against the Palestinian Authority that could lead to its collapse. My story on @axios ~ As the Daily Wire Publicly Negotiated a Debate with Candace Owens, it Secretly Sought — and Obtained — a Gag Order Against Her ~ @nomarquee The brilliant @AliAbunimah shows how Israel’s own newspapers like @haaretzcom have debunked Sheryl Sandberg’s fake documentary. Watch how Facebook’s propaganda extraordinaire weaves her web of lies! Honestly as a survivor I’ve never seen so many people wishing rape that never happened so badly onto their own people. It’s honestly sickening level of self dehumanising! ~ putney swope ~ pictures for today’s monday morning reader are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
Sixty Nine Years Thirteen Presidents
This is a repost from 2021. … Every four years, someone will say this is the worst choice ever. Every four years, someone will say this is the most important election ever. They are always correct. The choice in 2024 was between Donald John Trump and Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. Choosing between those two idiots will be challenging. The good news is that most people live in states where the electoral votes are conceded to one of the duopoly parties. These voters can focus on local elections. Unfortunately, Georgia is now a “swing” state.
Listening to the news shows that came on before the cartoons, PG heard the phrase “President Eisenhower”. As a friend explained to him, G-d made everything, but the President is Eisenhower.
When he was six, PG moved to a new house, and started first grade. There was an election that fall, and someone named Kennedy became President. PG wasn’t old enough to pay attention to the news yet, except when it looked like the Russians were going to kill us all in 1962.
The first news story that PG clearly remembers was the day when his fourth grade teacher, Miss McKenzie, told the class that President Kennedy had been shot. One of the worst moments that weekend was the moment when a plane landed in Washington, and the new President spoke on television. THAT was the new President? Yuck.
Lyndon Johnson was a larger than life figure, and was hated by millions of Amuricuns. While there was some good done by LBJ, it was overshadowed by the War in Vietnam. When he left office in 1968, the voters had a horrible choice …Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon, or George Wallace.
Tricky Dick Nixon is another larger than life figure, with millions of Americans screaming for his impeachment. For some reason, there were others who passionately admired the man.
In 1973, the oil companies tried to say there was an oil shortage. Later that year, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan attacked Israel, and the Arab oil producers cut oil to the USA. After this embargo, OPEC was in charge of the oil supply, and the price of gasoline increased 200%. The era of big money oil was on. What a convenient war.
After the ethical shortcomings of Mr. Nixon became too obnoxious to ignore, Gerald Ford became President. On a policy level, Mr. Ford was like all the other Presidents…some things he got right, some things he got wrong. On a personality level…the show business part … Mr. Ford excelled. His family provided harmless fodder for the gossipmongers. He was a likable man, a welcome break from the meanness of Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
When PG was a kid, there had never been a President from Georgia. It seemed impossible. When Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter announced he was running, it seemed like another ego tripper running for President. The funny thing is, Jimmy won. It still seems a bit unreal.
Jimmy was a Democrat, with attack Republicans fighting him every step of the way. This is a problem later Democrats in the Oval Office will have. On the policy level, Jimmy did better than many realize. Many of his achievements only bore fruit after he left office. On the show biz front, his down home Georgia routine did not appeal to many Yankees. In 1980, Jimmy was defeated by an actor.
PG was worried when Ronald Reagan took office. With America’s nuclear arsenal, and the Soviet Union wheezing it’s threat, many thought that Ronnie would start the war to kill us all. The good news is, this war never happened. Whatever tough talk came out of Washington was not matched by military adventurism abroad.
Mr. Reagan was the master of show business. He was an actor, playing the greatest role of his career. It was said that if America had a figure head monarch, Mr. Reagan would have been terrific. On the policy front, taxes were cut, and the budget increased. The national debt went over a trillion dollars. This was seen as a historic moment.
When Mr. Reagan’s two terms were over, George H.W. Bush took over. This was an era where the Democrats could not do anything right on a national level. Mr. Bush presided over a war, and brought the troops home when the mission was over. His image never appealed, and the whiners were not pleased. A computer salesman named Ross Perot decided to run as a third party candidate.
In the winter of 1992, PG had a little job downtown. One day, there was a rally at the CNN center for a little known Presidential candidate. PG went, and said to a friend, If this guy gets elected, you are going to regret not going to see him. At the time, War Winner Bush seemed unbeatable, and PG said that with high sarcasm.
When he got to CNN center, it was obvious that a big money event was unfolding. The place was packed, with school children bused in to fill all the seats. Finally, the speakers blared “Twist and Shout” at top volume, and Bill Clinton walked on the stage. PG was not especially impressed.
Mr. Clinton inspired toxic hatred, but managed to keep the boat floating. He won reelection, with the Republicans seeming to self destruct. The economy was going good, the budget was balanced, and the haters went wild. After a entertaining sex scandal, the Clinton years were over.
A couple of weeks before the 2000 election, PG liked neither candidate, and did not think it made much difference. (With Georgia’s electoral votes certain to go Republican, PG did not have a vote.) He listened to someone talking, who thought that it was important that Mr. Gore won. PG remembered that conversation often during the next eight years.
George W. Bush was a disaster. It is possible that 911 was a personal vendetta against the Bush family, and would not have happened if Mr. Gore was President. The reaction of Mr. Bush to this tragedy was to start two wars that we have not been able to finish. In 2021, we are still in Afghanistan.
Barack Obama was next, the first dark skinned President. He continued the war happy ways of the Bush regime. BHO was reelected in 2012, and given four more years to wage war. He managed to avoid the second term scandals that crippled Mr. Nixon and Mr. Clinton.
In the next election, the democrats decided that calling people racist was a good campaign strategy. As a result, Donald J. Trump was elected. America is more racially divided than ever, something the election of Mr. Obama was supposed to remedy. With the nation distracted by screaming racism, the congress has cut taxes, and produced a multi-trillion dollar budget deficit.
Joe Biden is now in the oval orifice. Mr. Trump, while not as bad as anticipated, was awful. Covid-19 hit, and Mr. Trump did not stop it. The national debt went through the roof. OTOH, Mr. Trump did not start any new major wars. Mr. Biden will struggle to keep his cognitive decline within Presidential levels. America might survive. Pictures for this feature are from the The Library of Congress.
Wednesday Morning Consultants
This is a repost from 2017. … Wednesday morning consultants have been buzzing since last November. There are lots of opinions about why Hillary lost to Donnie. Today’s text will take a look at the numbers. With 270 electoral votes needed to win, Donald Trump (DJT) got 306, and Hillary Clinon (HRC) got 232. Gary Johnson (GEJ) and Jill Stein (JES) also were on the ballot.
One commonly heard excuse for this result is racism. The repubs are racist, and anyone who voted for them is racist. This trope ignores the fact that essentially the same voting population elected a dark skinned man in 2008 and 2012. Did you ever hear anyone say “If you vote for Mitt Romney (WMR) you are a racist?” Maybe the demoze could have focused on the numerous ethical shortcomings of DJT, rather than scream racist.
Today we will look at five states. Four went Republican in 2016, after going Democrat in 2013. The fifth, Wisconsin, went Republican both times. The states are Florida (29), Michigan (16), Ohio (18), Pennsylvania (20), and Wisconsin (10). These five states had a total of 93 votes. Here are the links for the data used: fl2016, fl2012, mi2016, mi 2012, oh2016, oh2012, pa2016, pa2012, wi 2016, wi 2012.
Florida saw DJT won by 130,770, in a state won by BHO by 75,189. Both demoze and repubs saw increases in 2016 over 2012, with DJT getting 454,434 more votes than WMR. GEJ/JES also had substantial increases. We don’t know how 270,026 votes won by GEJ/JES affected the overall total.
2016 Trump 4,616,515 Clinton 4,485,745 Johnson 206,007 Stein 64,019
2012 Romney 4,162,081 Obama 4,237,270 Johnson 44,681 Stein 8,933
Michigan was a shocker. Most pundits assumed it would go to HRC, who lost by 11,612. The demoze lost 293,718 votes, and the repubs gained 167,132. GEJ (who was not on the ballot in 2012) and JES gained 202,553. It is possible that more than 11k BHO voters became “racistized,” and voted for DJT.
2016 Trump 2,279,805 Clinton 2,268,193 Johnson 173,057 Stein 50,700
2012 Romney 2,112,673 Obama 2,561,911 Johnson not on ballot Stein 21,204
Ohio has been the strategic electoral prize for years. DJT won by 454,983 votes, after WMR lost by 103,481. With a margin of victory that large, the GEJ/JES increases don’t matter much. HRC focused on Ohio in 2016, leading some to speculate that her campaign was so yukkky, that the more voters saw of it, the more likely they were to vote against her.
2016 Trump 2,771,984 Clinton 2,317,001 Johnson 168,599 Stein 44,310
2012 Romney 2,593,779 Obama 2,697,260 Johnson 47,287 Stein 12,148
Pennsylvania got the attention of demo strategist Chuck Schumer. “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.” In a state BHO won by 287,905 votes, HRC lost by 68,236. This might be due to the 123,097 vote increase by GEJ/JES, or the fact that BHO had 62,783 more votes than HRC.
2016 Trump 2,912,941 Clinton 2,844,705 Johnson 142,653 Stein 49,912
2012 Romney 2,619,583 Obama 2,907,488 Johnson 48,758 Stein 20,710
Wisconsin is the only state, examined in this post, that WMR won in 2012. In fact, DJT got 204,483 less votes than WMR. HRC got 26,536 less votes than BHO, while losing to DJT by 27,257. GEJ/JES gained 109,542 over 2012.
2016 Trump 1,409,467 Clinton 1,382,210 Johnson 106,442 Stein 30,980
2012 Romney 1,613,950 Obama 1,408,746 Johnson 20,279 Stein 7,601
Pictures for this revisionist history update are from The Library of Congress. Images include “Earl Carrol picking beauties for vanities, 1/23/25.”
Always Take Sides
“… always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” This meme, illustrated by the gnomic face of Elie Wiesel, turns up on facebook a lot. (Elie Wiesel is pronounced like Elly Mae Clampett) Some find it inspiring. Others think it is simplistic and manipulative.
There are two questions. Did Mr. Wiesel say that? What was the context? The quote appears in the acceptance speech for the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize. The next sentence is “Sometimes we must interfere.” We immediately go from the absolute always, to the conditional sometimes. That is progress, even if it does not fit on a bumper sticker.
“Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet, Romania, in 1928. … In May 1944, Wiesel was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp along with his parents and his sisters. Wiesel and his father were slave laborers at Auschwitz. His father died in January 1945 during a forced march to another camp, Buchenwald, and his mother and younger sister were murdered as well. After the war, Wiesel moved to France, where he worked as a journalist.”
The Israel-Palestine problem was just as vexing in 1986 as today. Here is what Mr. Wiesel said in his speech. “More people are oppressed than free. And then, too, there are the Palestinians to whose plight I am sensitive but whose methods I deplore. Violence and terrorism are not the answer. Something must be done about their suffering, and soon. I trust Israel, for I have faith in the Jewish people. Let Israel be given a chance, let hatred and danger be removed from her horizons, and there will be peace in and around the Holy Land.”
Who is the oppressor in the Middle East, and who is the victim? Many sides can make a case for their cause. Who is the better at persuasion? Who is better at playing the shady game of influence, and money. Often, more noise encourages the tormentor. The answer to age old conflicts is seldom found in bumper stickers, or facebook memes.
“… to whose plight I am sensitive but whose methods I deplore.” “Always take sides” means that you pick one side in a conflict, and use the tools of rhetoric to promote that cause. It can be tough to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Human suffering is human suffering. Simplistic rhetoric is *never* the answer.
In 1986, the Iran-Iraq war was raging. Hundreds of thousands of men died. Many said the war was allowed to go on intentionally. Allegedly, if Iran and Iraq were not fighting each other, they would be fighting Israel. The United States was allied with Iraq, while making arms deals with Iran. Israeli dealers participated in the United States-Iran arms trading. The profits from those deals went to supply terrorists in Central America. “Sometimes we must interfere.”
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Manley Pointer
Good Country People is a Flannery O’Connor story. Manley Pointer is a Bible salesman in rural Georgia. He calls on the Hopewell family. Manley doesn’t sell any Bibles, but he does get a date with Hulga Hopewell. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
“O’Connor portrays a one-legged, unemployed female with a Ph.D. in philosophy, who has nothing to do but stay at home and irritate her mother. When a Bible salesman, Manley Pointer, … arrives at the Hopewell house, Joy, who has changed her name to Hulga, much to the annoyance of her mother, joins her new friend in an excursion to a nearby barn, complete with a romantic hayloft.” source
The first few minutes of the Hulga-Manley date are special. “Smiling, he lifted his hat which was new and wide-brimmed. He had not worn it yesterday and she wondered if he had bought it for the occasion. It was toast-colored with a red and white band around it and was slightly too large for him. He stepped from behind the bush still carrying the black valise. He had on the same suit and the same yellow socks sucked down in his shoes from walking.”
“He crossed the highway and said, “I knew you’d come!” The girl wondered acidly how he had known this. She pointed to the valise and asked, “Why did you bring your Bibles?” He took her elbow, smiling down on her as if he could not stop. “You can never tell when you’ll need the word of God, Hulga,” he said. She had a moment in which she doubted that this was actually happening and then they began to climb the embankment. They went down into the pasture toward the woods. …”
“Wait,” he said. He leaned the other way and pulled the valise toward him and opened it. It had a pale blue spotted lining and there were only two Bibles in it. He took one of these out and opened the cover of it. It was hollow and contained a pocket flask of whiskey, a pack of cards, and a small blue box with printing on it. He laid these out in front of her one at a time in an evenly-spaced row, like one presenting offerings at the shrine of a goddess. He put the blue box in her hand. THIS PRODUCT TO BE USED ONLY FOR THE PREVENTION OF DISEASE, she read, and dropped it. The boy was unscrewing the top of the flask. He stopped and pointed, with a smile, to the deck of cards. It was not an ordinary deck but one with an obscene picture on the back of each card. “Take a swig,” he said, offering her the bottle first. He held it in front of her, but like one mesmerized, she did not move.” …
“Mrs. Hopewell and Mrs. Freeman, who were in the back pasture, digging up onions, saw him emerge a little later from the woods and head across the meadow toward the highway. “Why, that looks like that nice dull young man that tried to sell me a Bible yesterday,” Mrs. Hopewell said, squinting. “He must have been selling them to the Negroes back in there. He was so simple,” she said, “but I guess the world would be better off if we were all that simple.” source (This is the only time Black people are mentioned in “Good Country People.”)
Erik Langkjær is the possible inspiration for Manley Pointer. A Russian-Danish young man, Mr. Langkjær worked as a textbook salesman. “Klaus Rothstein, a literary critic and commentator for the national Danish newspaper Weekendavisen” got Mr. Langkjær to tell his story.
“I searched for a job in publishing, in the hope that I would be hired as an editor. I did get a job, but it was as a sales representative in the South. During these travels, I met a professor at the University of Georgia. She suggested that I pay a visit to a local woman who had had her first book published by Harcourt, Brace & Company, where I was now a sales agent in the education branch. The professor believed that this author would enjoy meeting me because of her affiliation with the publishing firm. Weakened as she was by her disease, lupus, she wasn’t in contact with many people, so it would be nice to receive a visit from outside. A few years back, her father had died from the same disease, but the doctors had told her not to worry. …”
“Flannery and I quickly became friends. I made an effort to plan my sales route in a way that made it possible for me to visit her every two or three weeks. I would arrive in my own car, and then suggest going for a ride in the surrounding countryside. She was always up for it. We talked about our family backgrounds, and she was excited to hear about my mother’s Russian heritage and my father’s career as a consul general … Flannery herself was a devout Catholic, highly conscious of living in the Protestant South. She considered it a great challenge to be surrounded by Protestants, and to belong to a minority. She had a church to go to on Sundays, but she was aware of the growing secularism, which she considered a threat.”
“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. …
“I visited her twelve to fourteen times, and later we started exchanging letters. As I returned to Denmark to settle down, she wrote that she would like to hear more from me, and her first letter from June 1954 ends with a reference to our drives around Milledgeville: . . . I haven’t seen any dirt roads since you left and I miss you. I think Flannery was hoping for it to be the two of us. Between April 1953 and June 1954, when my visits were frequent, there was indeed enough contact between us for her to envisage something more. Her letters might also contain a certain disappointment in the fact that the contact wasn’t as strong on my part. …”
“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.”source
Miss O’Connor wrote Mr. Langkjær many times. 13 June 54 “My mother has just attended a dairy festival in Eatonton. The governor attended and Miss America. All the cows were in rope stalls around the Courthouse and Miss America, very sunburned, my mother said and in a white strapless evening dress (11 A. M.) had to pick her way among them and admire each one while she kept the tail of the dress out of the little piles of manure. She also had to kiss a calf. Universal suffering.” 18 July 54 “Everything here is busy electing the Governor. There are 9 candidates and the ones I have heard over the radio all sound like hound dogs that have learned to declaim. They are all but one running on keep-segregation platforms and everything is geared to the boys who sit in front of the wooden stores and tell you not to run into a street car down there. (On acct. of the rotten borough system their vote is worth three or four of a city vote.”) source
“Flannery first met Erik in April 1953, she was clearly taken with him and relished their time together, especially their drives through Baldwin County in his car. When he decided to break off their friendship and return to Europe a little over a year later, O’Connor, then using a cane, felt betrayed, as revealed in their short-lived correspondence. In early 1955, O’Connor took only four days to write this story; her intense feelings about Langkjær quickly found their outlet.”source
“Unfortunately, while she may have had romantic feelings towards him, they were not reciprocated. This was especially noticeable after he returned to Denmark in 1954. Flannery would write to him, and it would be weeks before she would hear back. … Eventually, she received a letter from him stating that he had met another woman and they were intending to get married. Flannery was devastated. However, instead of wallowing in her grief she threw herself into her art, writing one of her best short stories, “Good Country People.” Shortly after this story came out, Langkjær wrote Flannery and said that he recognized himself in the character of the salesman, Manley Pointer. Flannery responded with the epistolary equivalent of Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain, telling him in essence not to flatter himself so.” source
29 April 56 “I am highly taken with the thought of your seeing yourself as the Bible salesman. Dear boy, remove this delusion from your head at once. And if you think the story is also my spiritual autobiography, remove that one too. As a matter of fact, I wrote that one not too long after your departure and wanted to send you a copy but decided that the better part of tact would be to desist. Your contribution to it was largely in the matter of properties. Never let it be said that I don’t make the most of experience and information, no matter how meager. But as to the main pattern of that story, it is one of deceit which is something I certainly never connect with you. In my modest way, I think it’s a wonderful story. I read it over and over and nobody enjoys it as much as I do—which is more or less the case with all my productions.”source This is a repost.
Greek Polytheism
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nabco ~ PEN ~ ben-gvir ~ malkovich ~ dominoes
reason ~ The.Last.Temptation.of.Christ ~ the passion of christ ~ the wizard of oz ~ the shining
pickin time ~ livestream funeral ~ jeremy nicholson ~ jeremy nicholson ~ jeremy nicholson
gravity fitness ~ qt ~ sesquipedalian ~ eschatology ~ cnn protesters
david cerny ~ aldous huxley ~ aldous huxley ~ aldous huxley ~ la stories
arrivals ~ afghanistan ~ peach pundit ~ kyle clinkscales ~ jocko armenia
jocko armenia ~ fansly ~ strings attached ~ nuking japan ~ congressional districts
reapportionment ~ conressional disctrict ~ my voter page ~ Confederate Memorial Day
#nationalpoetrymonth 22/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 23/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 24/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 25/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 26/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 27/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 28/30 ~ If I had more emotional bandwidth … A respected University 5 miles south of my home was attacked by the Georgia State Patrol this week. I could go on, as I am s … ~ #BadHygieneTips bathe in swamp water for a youthful glow, lose your toothbrush? find a live weasel, go lick your vibrator clean tomorrow, dollar store cologne instead of diesel, smoke the breath mints in the urinal, floss is too flimsy try a razor blade, fill both sides of toilet paper y’all, lick bathroom floor at the colonnade, bug spray deodorant in a pinch, perfume covers republican stench, you never have to wipe a clean cut crap, if you piss in the sink with spinal tap, use meth to whiten and strengthen smile, kinky groovy sex at walmart lifestyle ~ this is your monday morning reader for Confedetate Memorial Day. The pictures are haiku reductions. I take a bit of text, and break it down into 5 – 7 – 5. “women satanic MAN family Democrat power abortion” was based on a meme at r/religiousfruitcake. “Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it.” ~ soon three-year-olds will know everything long before anybody else ~ I was in a meeting once, where they put comments on post-it notes, and stuck them on a whiteboard. One person said that perfectionism was a part of white supremacy, and should be fought. After the meeting, the perfectionism post-it note fell off the whiteboard. ~ Breaking Points has a video, shot by CNN, of an Emory Professor being knocked to the ground, and arrested. Here is the current headline at CNN.com. ~ “I think I know what this means” … it must be something that i ate is it the differential that I ate? i am much more comfortable with eating same old same old, but someone is telling me to be different dinner or is it the alien that i ate?“What am I doing right now” it depends on what planet. if it was from my home planet of thrunomulax, it would be ok. the thing is, thrumombuburgers leave a pleasant taste in my mouth, which is not there now. so it must have been from another planet, and my intergalactic culinary adventurism is at a low ebb. ever since i ate something from the planet bigmaxottos, i have sworn off food from other planets “Better days are ahead, I’m sure of it “ ~ this haiku reduction was based on a meme posted at r/religiousfruitcake. If you go there today, you will see this: “Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it.” The comment about Tucker Carlson was pasted on by X. ~ Things you do when you are retired: I looked at my precinct card, from the Secretary of State’s office. It said I was in GA05. I then looked at a district map, and it said I was in GA04. I called SOS. They said to call Dekalb County. The county said the maps had not been updated. This did not make sense. Before 2020, I was in GA06. I voted in that insane special election of 2017. Since the district map did not show me in GA06, I thought it had been updated. My neighborhood is in a different district every ten years. The first SOS contact gave me the number to another SOS office. The second SOS person informed that that the districts had been reapportioned by the Legislature last year. It turns out the portions of North Dekalb county have been moved into GA05. This re-reapportionment was done by a court order. This has something to do with a gerrymandering lawsuit. I cannot see how shifting me into GA05 helps me to be represented better. ~ Of Course You Believe In Chrustian Service, I’ve Come Here To Speak Of Serious Things, Making Miss Hulga Joy Hopewell Nervous, The Ugliest Name Any Language Brings, You Know Other People Have Opinions Too, Sparing The Child And Spoiling The Rod, Aren’t You Just Good Country People Boo, Never Can Tell When You’ll Need The Word Of God, From “Good Country People” Flannery O’Connor ~ I asked if we can use another register you get the fu giving me a hard time here doesn’t want to leave because their card is declined because my card did not it did not say insufficient funds what did it say ma’am did my card say insufficient funds or did it say that your system’s not working no I’m serious cuz this isn’t cool is it okay if I check out anyway his is not it did not say insufficient funer what did it [ __ ] say it said no checking account what does that mean it did not say insufficient funds we’re going back to your transphobia ~ great fallacy: the wisdom of old men, they grow careful but do not grow wise, limiters of happiness always win, in bed together for a monday surprise, happiness for intelligent people, made by the dust on a butterfly’s heart, awfully easy to be a weasel, life has a tendency to fall apart ~ laudable, iconoclast, eschew, credo, recalcitrant, mandate ~ laudable mandate, eschew iconoclast rant, calcium credo ~ all my pretty chickens and their dam, turn’d your wit the seamy side, without foul-mouthed man as he is, near the cradle of the fairy queen, green in judgement cold in blood, fortune with him in a single fight, would spy out such a quarrel, hoist with his own petard ~ @RedeemedRags I don’t know who needs to hear this: You’re a good gardener. The plant should’ve tried harder. ~ @abgutman Former spokesperson for families of Israeli hostages in Gaza says they learned that after October 7, Hamas offered to release all civilian hostages to prevent a ground offensive. “No doubt that Netanyahu is preventing a deal to release the hostage.” … “In retrospect we found out that Hamas offered on the 9th or 10th of October to release all the civilians in their hands if the IDF won’t enter the Gaza Strip, but the government rejected the offer.” … Some people seem to not remember the tone from the government the days after October 7, which is fully in line with refusing such proposal. Here are two ministers from October as reminders: ~ morphodite gentleman winding his watch, his water works in out of order town, second verse of the tantum ergo crotch, lit the blessed sacrament and knelt down, most pious virgin’s intercessory, but for all their eyes wet with contrition, little mariner over winningly, her eyes dancing in admonition ~ @noam_dworman There’s a lot of talk about university censorship. It’s a good time to remember that the most effective and serious censorship at universities is effected quietly through hiring practices behind the scenes. If you never hear a view in the first place, does it make a sound? Steven Pinker explains… ~ Sesquipedalian can also be used to describe someone or something that overuses big words, like a philosophy professor or a chemistry textbook. If someone gives a sesquipedalian speech, people often assume it was smart, even if they don’t really know what it was about because they can’t understand the words. ~ Sesquipedalianism is a Protestant denomination that worships big words. ~ Still, for the best I nominate pentasyllabic, which means five-syllabled! Not only does it describe all other five-syllabled words, it also describes itself. Such words are called autological (another five-syllabled word). ~ @netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו Anti-Semitism on campuses in the United States is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. The world cannot stand idly by. ~ @izhimanrami He crossed a red traffic light The moment the accident occurred and the Zionist Ben Gvir, his daughter, his bodyguard and his driver were injured.. ~ want to live in a small apartment, just cuddle every day, but i’d miss you while i work, when we come home, we can make each other laugh, make food and make love a lot ~ this link comes in very handy. We have to listen to endless debates. Complex issues are trivialized by reduction to insulting polemic. It is just so tempting to interrupt the privilege party by shouting YOU IGNORANT SLUT. ~ strolling through the lunatic asylum, idleness at the beginning of play, study anatomic tweedle dum, we don’t know how to live for today, no character is determined by plan, one should run away from her dimensions, just a stone on the house of godly man, road to heaven paved with bad intentions ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
Confederate Memorial Day
Today is Confederate Memorial Day in Georgia. It is an ancient question…how to honor the soldiers from the side that lost. They were just as valiant as the Union Soldiers. Considering the shortages of the Confederate Armies, the Rebels may have been just a bit braver.
The issue of Federalism is a defining conflict of the American experience. What powers do we give the Federal Government, and what powers do we cede to the States? The Confederacy was the product of this conflict. The Confederate States were a collection of individual states, with separate armies. This is one reason why the war turned out the way it did.
Slavery was an important cause of this conflict. The “Peculiar institution” was a moral horror. The after effects of slavery affect us today. Any remembrance of the Confederacy should know that. This does not make the men who fought any less brave.
It is tough to see the War Between the States through the modern eye. It was a different time, before many of the modern conveniences that are now considered necessities. Many say that the United States were divided from the start, and the fact the union lasted as long as it did was remarkable. When a conflict becomes us against them, the “causes” become unimportant.
The War was a horror, with no pain medicine. Little could be done for the wounded. It took the south many, many years to recover. This healing continues today. Remembering the sacrifices made by our ancestors helps. This is a repost. Pictures are from the The Library of Congress.
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rail gauge ~ r.crumb ~ large tony ~ large tony ~ norm
primary care brookhaven ~ cough cpr ~ quadrophenia ~ the long goodbye ~ mccabe and mrs miller
california split ~ player ~ short cuts ~ spartacus ~ dr caligari
all that jazz ~ candy ~ spartacus ~ paths of glory ~ lolita
dick tracy ~ heavy metal ~ cowgirls ~ cass report
cass review ~ onn-wiablk100008846 ~ vivitar-te51bl ~ vivitar-te51bl ~ john fante
oj ~ aita ~ bob wright ~ 1st amendment ~ masters of war
gdot ~ billion ~ norm f ~ queer majority ~ mairzy doats
germany ~ cch ~ john martyn ~ hell ~ op
#nationalpoetrymonth 8/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 9/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 10/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 11/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 12/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 13/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 14/30 ~ baby back because beelzebub, bismillah blows boring boy butt, dead devil die down easy escape, family fandango fantasy figaro, frightening gallileo goodbye gun, head just killed landslide lightning, low magnifico mama man matters, mia monstrosity need never nobody, scaramouch shiver silhouetto spine, spit sympathy thunderbolt tomorrow ~ “Israel was considering arming some Palestinian individuals or clans in Gaza to provide security protection for aid convoys into the enclave after the fighting ends.” ~ jesus saw judas leaving, mary magdalene’s place, jesus told mm i wish you, would quit doing this, mm handed jesus, two pieces of silver, shut up here’s your cut ~ I recently put this poem up. As part of National Poetry Month, I am repeating old posts. This piece was published in October 2015, and featured pictures from the fall gathering. ~ christian surrounded Buddha who spiritual big bucks logical … ~ I used this meme as the basis of a haiku reduction. When I posted the meme to reddit, a festive discussion ensued … ReaperofLightning872 – my towns hair salon doesnt have those statues, just a lucky cat thingy _ motleystuff – Uber religious folks would still argue the lucky cat as idolatrous. (It’s really the deep rooted racism.) _ chamblee54 – If you edit, you have a haiku. … Uber religious _ folks would still argue lucky – cat idolatrous. _ Superb_Stable7576 – What about a plastic golden Trump statue? ~ Much Madness is divinest Sense – To a discerning Eye – Much Sense – the starkest Madness – ’Tis the Majority In this, as all, prevail – Assent – and you are sane – Demur – you’re straightway dangerous – And handled with a Chain – Text by Emily Dickinson Images from The Library of Congress ~ “Can caffeine be harmful to a Christian’s spiritual life?” This issue may bring the church crashing down. ~ According to “The Rachel Maddow Show” on facebook, Ms. Maddow says NOTHING about the tragedy in Gaza. ~ here the frailest leaves of me, and yet my strongest lasting, here i shade and hide my thoughts, i myself do not expose them, and yet they expose me more, than all my other poems ~ fertile felicity fan celebrate, capital vice intoxicate stupid, sinful gorgon purpose excoriate, ecstasy emancipation cupid, promiscuity scouring thighs to chill, drink rotten terror whiskey counterfeits, grant a pardon funky knaves’ nostril, thou art thy president’s beastly armpits ~ Boom Etymology – Verb – Middle English bomben, bummen, of imitative origin Noun (2) – Dutch, tree, beam; akin to Old High German boum tree — more at beam ~ impeachment process of jekyll and hyde, stumblin’ bumblin’ invasion guaranteed, details of how she lived and how she died, remarkable job exposing the bride, pronounce beautiful all those who succeed, impeachment process of jekyll and hyde, begob she got as far as genocide, either you lose last night or you proceed, details of how she lived and how she died, under the brim of her new hat she lied, puffing and blowing under dropsy deed, impeachment process of jekyll and hyde, courage is grace under pressure outside, murderous buckshot and the bullets bleed, details of how she lived and how she died, coronavirus response mortified, defrauding widows and orphans indeed, impeachment process of jekyll and hyde, details of how she lived and how she died, @TweetsOfGrass @DailyHemingway @UlyssesReader @realDonaldTrump ~ “If I hadn’t spent so much time studying Earthlings,” said the Tralfamadorian, “I wouldn’t have any idea what was meant by ‘free will.’ I’ve visited thirty-one inhabited planets in the universe, and I have studied reports on one hundred more. Only on Earth is there any talk of free will.” Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse Five ~ “Being in Israel, for lunch the Googlers can choose from three amazing restaurants, nonkosher, kosher dairy and kosher meat, each of the restaurants designed to its own style and theme.” ~ blue woman more barbaric than a man, sir slam poet drinks epileptic booze, powerful sodomy officers ran, elegant woman wearing manly shoes, always feeling I should wash my device, tumescent explanation warmonger, try to go down and be a sacrifice, what does not kill me makes me stronger ~ As any twitter user knows, the pornbot ads are running wild. … A person said something about social justice fans, and other people with too many opinions. they can dish it out, but they can’t take it. I replied … I will say one good thing about the “nudes in bio” ladies … they can take it as well as they dish it out. ~ @noam_dworman You might have told your followers that the “8 years” he refers to is when Gaza was under Egyptian control (many won’t know that (as you know)). Further, that when Sadat made peace, Egypt refused to take Gaza back. Anyway, this empty-caloried argumentation by quote (usually out of context) really should not be convincing to a serious mind. There are quotes out there to make any point on any side. ~ this is from an interview with “a 59-year-old solicitor from Cork, Ireland, named Bill Holohan.” He posted the twitter thread that is quoted above. – Slate – While we were setting up this interview you had written in an email that while you “always strive to achieve accuracy, if it amuses people, then at the end of the day that’s as much benefit as anything else.” So the point was to amuse? BH – Oh, absolutely. I mean I put out a posting almost every single day, and usually it’s something historical. But I always try and put a little bit of a kink in it, as opposed to simply reciting historical facts, to make it interesting or something that’s worthy of comment. Now, I didn’t expect to get that kind of reaction. Slate – The exact historical accuracy isn’t as much of a focus, necessarily? BH – Well insofar as I can, or as anybody can. When the issue is history, you try to be accurate, but obviously the further back you go, the more difficult it is to get verifying sources. Now, as I say, if you want to go and measure the rocks between the tracks in Pompeii, which is probably one of the best preserved in the world, and measure them against the English railway gauge and some of the American ones, it’s coincidentally the same gauge. Is that purely coincidence? Possibly. ~ its all fun and games, i thought it was shits and giggles, some people call that shiggles, gun and fames has an american sound to it, when i first saw chat tonight, it said who can see your messages, but that fits too…shits giggles fun gun fame games, they are all welcome to see my messages, even if i stop after four letters, and say they can see my mess, today is the first day in a couple of weeks that i did not the the end was near, the iran israel kabuki is through with the first act, this performance art war is getting getting awfully old, even if it is profitable to the military industrial complex, there is very little fun, games or giggles in the levant now, but a whole lot of shits and there is no end in sight, except to the people in gaza, many of whom are at the end of thier life, the initials tonight are iafag, yes, i am a fag, with a healthy dose of shits and giggles, its not all glamor, even if it is fun and games ~ pictures for this tax day 2024 are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
The Ferguson Report: An Erasure
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sharon tate ~ world cup ~ atlanta tech village ~ tugboats ~ lemonade
ms drama ~ chabad emory ~ bob dylan ~ peach pundity ~ just love forest
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#nationalpoetrymonth 1/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 2/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 3/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 4/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 5/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 6/30 ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 7/30 ~ this is the first monday morning reader for April 2024. Russell Lee took the photograph in July 1942. “Rupert, Idaho. Former CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp now under FSA (Farm Security Administration) management. A Japanese-American farm worker” ~ blue shimmering waves of green, Sleeping beauty from beyond the pale, Possible purple polyester dream, Telekinetic number nine whale, Whimsical organic overtime porn, Well scrubbed radiance bathing bright, Ripe young sunlight swallowing scorn, Slurping dark golden moonlight ~ have you seen the little ciggies, burning to get off, and for all the little ciggies, love to make you cough, always have a match to play around with, have you seen the filter ciggies, in the bright red pack, you will find the ciggie lovers, smoking in the back, always having air to blow the smoke in, in their packs with all their filters, they don’t care if cancer will come, in their eyes is some dark yearning, what they need’s a damn good burning, everywhere there’s lots of ciggies, in their ciggie lives, you can see them in the ashtray, with their cigar wives, flicking on a bic to light another ~ To me, the dominant issue is the tragedy in Gaza. Many of the so-called heterodox actors support the IDF killing machine. It makes for a lot of fitting round/liberal pegs into square/conservative holes. As for BAR, in the last episode the two lady guests … both Jewish … made some uncomfortable references to the tragedy, and then moved on to other topics. It is worth noting that Kat/Phoebe … I cannot tell them apart in audio only … said Palestinians, and not Hamas. That seems to be the tell in these discussions. If you say Hamas you are on one side, if you say Gaza/Palestinians, you are on the other side. ~ #nationalpoetrymonth 3/30 I am the man, I suffer’d, I was there, I merely stir, press, feel with my fingers, I come, with my cornets and my drums, I dilate you with tremendous breath, I could forget the mockers and insults!, I note where the pistol has fallen, I wear my hat as I please indoors or out, And I stay only a minute longer, From Song of Myself Walt Whitman ~ orifice tuba buffet canker, dribble duty wash machete, feces foreskin fruitcake wanker, nitwit goober gobble confetti, wooly willow trouser shampoo, pedantic proctology pie, porcine umbrella soup renew, you obsolete morphodite why ~ @wildethingy Trust the pagans to ruin a perfectly nice festival about a man being nailed to a cross with their creepy symbolism of rabbits and eggs. ~ one man named King gave a famous speech about America. He was a professional speaker, preaching the sermon of his life. 29 years later, another man named King said a few sentences to reporters. He had just seen the policemen who beat him acquitted. ~ blow job boner boogie woogie boo boo, freaky french fry mambo mama gobble, cunnilingus cock sucker gaggle cuckoo, carpetmuncher deepthroat wigglewobble, pussy peepee penis pinga pecker, fellatio hair pie hookup hoover head, johnson junkjuice knobjob chubbydecker, monica lewinsky muff diver fred, skin flute salad sister sixtynine slurp, wang chung verga down wet willie spurt, glimmer lady clitoris dancing stupor, doober your uber upside my goober, lick swallow cowboy sucky fucky witch, gonna suck the chrome off a trailerhitch ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. ~ @phoenixrigney Anyone know how to un-pinch your sciatic nerve 😭 @chamblee54 1-avoid sitting down. when you do this, you put pressure on the problem disc 2- do stretching exercises. a physical therapist knows more than I 3- drink a lot of water. 4- don’t listen to doctors who want to commit surgery ~ is your life happy angry, liberal conservative humble, proud blue red green relieved, constipated because of jesus?, do you worship jesus because, of who you are? do your beliefs, about your life after your death, make your life worthwhile? ~ dude pick up your junk or go back around, poised perhaps on brink on nonexistence, wait until soufflé has puffed and browned, still determined to play the resistance, the exact nature of enlightenment, they store and purify water before, behold judas one of the twelve for rent, purple trousers settled well on his whore, our dream vacation i cried for three days, as the polynesians had been there since, boo boo decided to go anyways, i intend to bring magic back to rinse, without the benefit of those insights, conservative democratic termites ~ write a poem about something small that is, only five lines long like my patience kiss, poetry prompts recreational show biz, onanistic educational jizz, two balls two strikes swing and a miss ~ Hamas could ensure that aid delivery to feed its own hungry people was easy and safe. That they don’t, ought to speak much louder to people than it does. ~ @coldxman was on #jre, repeating various pro-Israel talking points. (Israel has killed 19k civilians, and 13k Hamas fighters.) Then, he recalls a conversation with @normfinkelstein “he called me a black shabas [ __ ] what does that mean which I didn’t even know what that meant” Coleman Hughes does not know what a Shabbos Goy is. ~ Much Madness is divinest Sense – To a discerning Eye – Much Sense – the starkest Madness – ’Tis the Majority In this, as all, prevail – Assent – and you are sane – Demur – you’re straightway dangerous – And handled with a Chain – ~ The Library of Congress ~ selah
Dr. King And Mr. King
PG stumbled onto a blog post about a speech. It was delivered August 28, 1963, by Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. You have probably heard the money quote many times, but how many have heard the entire 881 words. PG had not, and decided to take a look.
The speech is really a sermon. It is delivered with the cadence, and rhetorical flourishes, of the church. Dr. King was a minister. The Church is a huge player in African America. The fact that slaves were introduced to this religion, by their owners, seems to be forgotten.
The term used is Negro. This was the polite word in 1963. The custom of saying Black started in the late sixties, at least partially inspired by James Brown. Negro began to be seen as an insult.
Twelve weeks after Dr. King gave his speech, President John Kennedy was killed. Part of the reaction to this tragedy was the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The next year saw the Voting Rights Act, and escalation of the war in Vietnam. It seemed that for every step forward, there was a half step back. People lost patience with non violence. America did not implode, but somehow survived. It is now fifty nine years later.
The other day PG stumbled onto a blog post, about a speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This address was deemed “the singularly most-important speech on race in the history of this country.”
PG admires Dr. King. He is also suspicious of superlatives. There were some comments made by Rodney Glen King III. The comments by Mr King were briefer, and tougher to live up to.
While thinking of things to write about, PG realized that he had never seen the actual quote by Mr. King. When you see this video, you might realize that Mr. King has been misquoted. The popular version has him saying “Can’t we all just get along.” He did not say just.
Mr. King was known to America as Rodney King. His friends called him Glen. His comments, at 7:01, May 1, 1992, went like this: ““People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids? . . . Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it.”
The circumstances of the two comments could not be more different. Dr. King was giving the sermon of his life. There was an enormous crowd, both in person and on TV. His comments were scripted, rehearsed, and delivered with the style he was famous for.
Mr. King, by contrast, had just seen the officers who beat him acquitted. Cities from coast to coast were in violent upheaval. Mr. King was speaking to reporters, without benefit of a speech writer. What he said might be more important. This double repost has pictures from The Library of Congress.
The Tactical Fight
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Robert Glück ~ omnibus ~ jaron ~ django unchained ~ my bloody valentine ~ marta
christopher isherwood on choosing a religion ‘The Problem of the Religious Novel’ christopher isherwood Vedanta and the West ~ @kittypurrzogWhat is the *most* antisemetic thing Candace Owens has done? Aside from the Hitler shrine in her bathroom ~ Today is the first day of the rest of your life ~ 380 320 280 240 ~ @bernybelvedere 1: For the past week, the publication where I am senior editor, The UnPopulist, has been embroiled in a genuinely preposterous micro-tiff with The Fifth Column, a libertarian-leaning podcast. I want to give my account of why I found TFC and their fans’ posture ridiculous ~ There were two fires in Atlanta. The one Scarlet fled was in September. CSA was abandoning the city, and burned anything of value. The second fire was in November. Sherman was leaving, and burned the rest. ~ I wasn’t sure what a tapestry was, other than an album by Carole King. I thought it was something like a quilt, but it turns out to a a woven work. All the threads in in are on the same surface, rather than a quilt, where different pieces of cloth are sewn together. I googled tapestry, and one of the results was the tapestry hoodie. “Capture timeless artistry with our custom tapestry hoodie. Crafted from high-quality weft-faced weaving, this hoodie is the perfect way to showcase your unique designs. There is a one-time setup fee of $49 and a 4-6 week turnaround time for production, but the intricate detail and authentic look won’t disappoint. Wear art you can be proud of.” I have always thought of a hoodie as a practical garment. It is a layer in cold weather, that works well with a scarf tied around the neck. It is going to be hidden under a jacket, and is going to get dirty. A tapestry hoodie, otoh, is supposed to be seen and clean. While it was be a statement garment, I don’t think this is going to be worth the time and money involved in getting it. Tapestry also comes with a charter school option, and a hospice. I can see this metaphor used to describe a school, instead of a literal fabric to craft a hoodie out of. I did not check out the tapestry hospice option, and i don’t think i will have time. ~ Happy Birthday Anita Bryant, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Flannery O’Connor ~ “a mineral K2Ca2Cu(SO4)4.2H2O consisting of a hydrous sulfate of copper, calcium, and potassium” ~ this is the first monday morning reader to appear after Charley Brown went to the makeup mirror in the sky. On the chamblee54 text template, there is a line of text. It is the same length of a line of text on the page, and is helpful for compiling the MMR: A young RuPaul and Charlie Brown star in Al Clayton’s 1980s photography show, “Drag Queens ~ this is a story about google, a podcast, and religion. Sheldon Dick took the photograph in 1938. “Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Beer party in Joe Gladski’s cellar. Mr. Gladski is in the right foreground.” ~ @EliLake When Israel vanquishes the Hamas terror army in Gaza, the IDF should get the Nobel peace prize. There, I said it. ~ “Racism” is a popular term, for an unpopular custom. People have been hating on people who don’t look like them as long as there have been people. The R-word appears to have been first used in 2002, at the Lake Mohonk Conference of Friends of the American Indian. ~ @tejucole “George Carlin’s original seven dirty words can all be said freely now. The one word you can’t say, and must never print, is “racist.” ~ This is a repost from 2016. ~ This is a repost from 2022. I got a TV this year, so watching the Super Bowl was not a problem … except when the niners scored a touchdown, and I said “go motherfucker” without muting my microphone. … ~ Two years ago, I wrote an extended book report on a Hank Chinaski book. It has a little bit about Hank, and whatever popped/pooped into my mind. … The only Neil that’s uglier than Neil Young is Neal Boortz. I would hate to be the judge of that beauty contest. … this robo secretary rant is being edited on the day after Russia invaded Ukraine. It is amazing how last week’s concerns are now obsolete. ~ Good Friday Morning. Jesus knew it was going to be a big day, and he made sure he looked his best. ~ r/religiousfruitcake posted a tweet by Donnie advertising his MAGA bible, on sale for $59.99. I commented “$59.99 upside down is $66.62.” The seminal post was removed by mods. ~ @barrypopik “The U.S. should add three more states. Because 53 is a prime number. Then they can truly be one nation, indivisible” ~ There are two six letter racial slurs. One starts with R, one ends with R. One I am forbidden to say, one I am forbidden to not say. The one I must say is RACIST. ~ This is a repost from 2017. ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress ~ selah
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