Afghanistan Heroin
As three young men learned recently, heroin is a deadly substance. The drug is produced from opium, which is made from the juices of the poppy flower. Most of the world’s poppy is grown in Afghanistan. Since 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom has brought the US Army (assisted by NATO forces) into battle in Afghanistan. How does military action affect the opium trade?
According to Truthistreason, the result is a profit center for “friends” of the United States. Their story is US & Afghan Forces Are the World’s Largest Drug Cartel. According to Phantom Report, relatives of Afghan President Hamid Karzai are the drug lords running the operation.
Some say the country with the worst heroin problem is Russia. In the story “Russia slams NATO for losing Afghan opium war”, the “Federal Drug Control Services” estimates heroin usage at 711 tons in Europe, 549 tons in Russia, and 212 tons in North America. An estimated 30k Russians die of overdoses every year.
The Russian government is upset with the reaction of the NATO forces to opium production. Supplies for the NATO forces are going into Afghanistan through Russian Airspace, with the consent of the government. Russia would like for the NATO forces to eradicate the poppy production, in a manner similar to the eradication of coca fields in South America.
RT.com has an interview with the “head” of Russia’s Federal Drug Control Service, Viktor Ivanov .
RT: It is also ironic that when the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, the drug trade, drug trafficking and even poppy cultivation were limited, but when the United States and NATO forces invaded Afghanistan, both production and trafficking skyrocketed. How do you explain this? And how can we even believe NATO when it says it is fighting the drug trade?
VI: You’re right. I had a meeting with my Pakistani colleagues here in Islamabad, and they, too, were amazed at this phenomenon. There is only one way to explain this. When the Taliban sought official recognition for its Kabul regime, they took unprecedented measures to eradicate opium poppy crops. They consistently took serious steps in 1998, 1999 and 2000, when they introduced capital punishment for poppy cultivation. As a result, they succeeded in eradicating drug crops on 90 per cent of Afghanistan’s territory, i.e., in all the provinces they controlled. The only place they couldn’t do it was northern Afghanistan, which was controlled by the so-called Northern Alliance.
But then Operation Enduring Freedom started, and the situation changed drastically. Only a competent government that has the support of the people can really control the country and take serious steps to destroy drug production.
This is no surprise to observers in the USA. For years, the Government has played both ends of the drug game. They maintain a legal prohibition, which keeps prices high, and gives the Government a tool to control the population. On the other hand, the Government *allegedly* is involved in importing and selling drugs. In the eighties, a “terrorist” operation in Central America was *allegedly* financed by by selling cocaine in the USA. (This was the same operation which saw Israel as the middleman of arms sales to Iran.)
The profits of the drug trade were a powerful incentive to get into, and stay in, Afghanistan. This may be the motivation for allowing the 911 attacks to happen. It might also explain why *former* cocaine user Barack Obama Donald J. Trump is so eager to see the war in Afghanistan continue.
This is a repost from 2011. Pictures for this commentary are from The Library of Congress
Justice Or Vengeance
This is a double repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Some of the links used in this feature no longer work.
A jury in Florida rendered a verdict Saturday night. Some are not happy with this ruling. They were looking for the courts to punish the defendant. To many, justice has fallen through the crack.
The truth is that we have trials for a reason. The howling mob, demanding a pound of flesh, is often mistaken. The system exists to protect people from an unjust prosecution. The mobs have not sat in the courtroom, and listened to the evidence. They have not had to make a decision. It is easy to monday morning quarterback a jury, but tough to be on one. Those six women should be thanked for their service, not told to commit suicide.
Some are urging the federal government to prosecute under hate crime laws. This is where Uncle Sam is not happy with the local ruling, and brings his own charges. This is also known as double jeopardy. It is not a good idea. One trial is enough.
Many of the people demanding government sponsored vengeance are Jesus worshipers. This is the man that Pontius Pilate said had done nothing wrong. The crowd shouted Pontius Pilate down. The crowd bellowed Crucify Him, Crucify Him.
The first mistake was reading more about George Zimmerman. PG went ahead, and read REPORT: FBI May Charge George Zimmerman With Hate Crime, Could Face Death Penalty. PG thought this was a bit weird, and did some research.
The FBI has a list of Federal Civil Rights Statutes. On several of these laws, the phrase “may be sentenced to death” appears. This expression does not appear in the description of “Title 18, U.S.C., Section 249 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.” This is the most recent expansion of the Federal Hate Crimes legislation. It expands the definition of hate crimes to include LGTB cases. (This possibility that Trayvon Martin was killed for being gay has not been mentioned.) The Matthew Shepard Act was added onto a defense spending bill, and signed into law October 28, 2009.
PG is not a lawyer. Reading legislation and court opinions makes his head hurt. He is not sure which of the hate crime laws would apply to George Zimmerman. The idea of Mr. Zimmerman being poisoned by the Federal government is unlikely.
There is another aspect of application of hate crime law to this case that is troubling. If you believe that Mr. Zimmerman is an icky person, who deserves whatever happens to him, this might not bother you. The trouble with crazy laws, meant for icky people, is that they might be applied to you some day. Mobs demanding vengeance are not known for careful thinking.
Does federal hate crime prosecution constitute double jeopardy? The idea is that if you are acquited of a crime, you should not be tried again for the same offense. What appears to be happening is the federal government supervising the state government, and if the verdict is not satisfactory, bringing more charges.
Other people are asking the same question. National Review Online posted Hate Crimes, Thought Crimes, Double Jeopardy. This article was written while the Matthew Shepard Act was in Congress. It was before the skittles shooting. “Among other things, the bill permits the U.S. Attorney General to initiate federal hate-crime prosecution in cases where “the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence.” In other words, if the Feds don’t like the state verdict, they will bring their own charges.
Another commenter notes “The bill would allow people who have been found innocent of a hate crime in state court to be reprosecuted in federal court. Many supporters of the federal hate crimes bill want to allow people who have been found innocent of a hate crime in state court to be reprosecuted in federal court. As one supporter put it, “the federal hate crimes bill serves as a vital safety valve in case a state hate-crimes prosecution fails.” The claim that the justice system has “failed” when a jury returns a not-guilty verdict is truly scary and contrary to the constitutional presumption of innocence and the right to trial by jury.
But it is a view widely shared among supporters of the hate-crimes bill. Syndicated columnist Jacob Sullum pointed out in 1998 that Janet Reno, Clinton’s Attorney General, backed the bill as a way of providing a federal “forum” for prosecution if prosecutors fail to obtain a conviction “in the state court.” Similarly, The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights wants to reprosecute teenagers who were found innocent of a hate crime against an illegal alien in a Pennsylvania state court.
As Sullum noted, the federal hate crimes bill exploits a loophole in constitutional protections against double jeopardy, known as the “dual sovereignty” doctrine. The Supreme Court created this loophole in its 5-to-4 Bartkus decision.
Another #GA06 Debate
The candidates for the 6th district congress, Jon Ossoff and Karen Handel (TJO/KCH) had another debate. Those with a strong gag reflex are invited to watch. The link may not work very long. For some reason, the discussion begins at 30:40 on the video. Channel 30 will carry the performance “at 7 p.m. Thursday and again at noon Friday.” UPDATE: The video has been adjusted to start at the beginning. The opening comment by KCH, shown here as being at 33:21, is now at 2:37, a difference of 30:44. To see when the remarks were made, subtract approximately 31 minutes from the time shown.
33:21 KCH “I am an extremely unlikely candidate for congress.” Duh. Over weight. No charisma. Totally unlikable. The Republican Hillary. Parroter of right wing drivel about Nancy Pelosi. Loser in two state wide elections. The list goes on and on. Hopefully, after the votes are counted, KCH can update her resume, and get an honest job. Maybe she can get a good reference from the Susan B. Komen foundation, or Sarah Palin.
KCH is introduced as “Secretary Handel.” This is probably a reference to her time as Georgia’s Secretary of State. KCH resigned that job to run for Governor, in 2009. Why does anyone want to use a title from 8 years ago? What is so cool about being called Secretary anyway? OTOH, Hillary Clinton was called Secretary Clinton in her ill fated run for the Presidency. Maybe being called Secretary Handel will have the same effect in this election.
45:17 KCH “Jon I guess you subscribe to the Nancy Pelosi approach to policy making.” The candidates are discussing health care. TJO has mentioned 7 year old Matt. KCH has mentioned her sister, born without an esophagus. KCH says that Trumpcare would not affect people with pre-existing conditions. Both sets of lips are moving.
54:33 KCH “He was a junior staffer for Hank Johnson, one of the most liberal tax and spend…” KCH starts to talk about her experience balancing budgets, most notably at the Fulton County Commission. These claims are disputed. The county budget is required by law to balance. KCH then claims to have cut the Secretary of State budget by 20% The SOS budget went from $4.7 m, to $6.9m, under KCH.
1:11:17 KCH says that the election is about the 6th district, and not about Donald Trump. PG is amazed to agree with her. The next thing she says is her standard rant: “You might live just five miles outside of the district but your values are nearly 3,000 miles away in San Francisco, and that’s why so many of your contributions have come from liberals from California, New York and Massachusetts.” In the channel 2 debate, KCH threw Jane Fonda in.
It is apparent that KCH is comfortable with conservative talking points. Just today, PG got a letter from KCH, that began “Fellow Conservative, With less than two weeks left until Election Day, liberal activists are coming to Georgia in droves to work against our campaign.” It is a good thing we got I85 fixed, so we can handle the droves coming in.
1:14:30 KCH is talking about her experience at the Komen foundation. KCH mentions that there is not a PP office in the 6th district. TJO says that PP has an office in Marietta, at 220 Cobb Parkway North. KCH says this office is not in the 6th district. In this part of Cobb County, the district stops at I75. On this point, KCH is correct.
1:14:52 KCH “With all due respect do not interrupt me.” TJO likes to preface his comments with the phrase “With all due respect.” His lips are moving. 1:16:26 KCH “You’ve allowed him to have the last word every single time.”
At this point in the proceedings, PG stepped onto the front porch. There was a flyer from KCH. It says, that voting is a public act, and if you don’t vote your neighbors will know. This is news, probably fake. Mr. Google has a mixed message on this one. Some say yes, some say no, some say yes but it will cost you. If you only vote because you are afraid of neighborhood gossip, you might not belong in a country with elections.
KCH said, in her closing remarks, “the Karen Handel that has always stood by you, and stood up for you.” Imagine how her one time allies in the Log Cabin Republicans felt watching this video. OTOH, there was nothing as brainless as “I do not support a livable wage.”
The debate mercifully ended. There is something to be said for strict tv schedules. One comment made by TJO, in the first debate, was not addressed. He said that the average donation to his campaign is under $50. Is the mean, median, or mode? Does it include funding from out of state PAC sources? When you say average, it means whatever you want it to mean. Some clarification on this point would be appreciated, but probably will not appear soon.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Jon Ossoff Pep Rally
Jon Ossoff held a campaign event Monday at Congregation Bet Haverim. Mr. Ossoff is running for Congress, from Georgia’s 6th district. PG lives in the 6th district. CBH is located south of the 6th district, at 2074 Lavista Road, Atlanta, GA 30329. The event was on facebook live, in three parts: part one, part two, and part three. Parts one and two had the camera set at a ninety degree angle, which made for uncomfortable viewing. Part one was some performers, accompanied by a front row of dancing democrats. Part two was the candidate’s remarks. By part three, the camera was set at a conventional angle. The candidate took questions from the crowd.
PG learned during part two that the event was held at CBH. He wondered, is this facility in the 6th district? Mr. Google helped to find a website for CBH, and a map of the 6th district. PG realizes that other people are concerned about the outcome of this election. However, they do not get to vote. Outsiders can, and do, send money. Lots of money. The 6th district is the most expensive congressional race in history. FWIW, Mr. Ossoff does not live in the 6th district.
Most of the advertising financed by this outside money is obnoxious and misleading. Both Mr. Ossoff and his opponent, Karen Handel are guilty. It is poignant to hear Mr. Ossoff say in part two, at 3:51, that the election is not democrat versus republican, but sense versus nonsense. Both sides are spewing nonsense…like the campaign ads accusing Mrs. Handel of using taxpayer money to pay for a “luxury SUV.” The Secretary of State job had an auto allowance. Big deal.
After confirming that CBH is outside the district, PG wanted to make a comment.
Luther Mckinnon – Is CBH in the sixth district? I looked at a district map, and CBH does not appear to be in the 6th district. Is it appropriate to have a campaign rally outside the district, for people who do not live in the district? Of course, we all know that Mr. Ossoff does not live in the district he wants to represent.
Cenate Pruitt · Luther: I have it on good authority that CBH has congregants who live in that district. Is there a problem with CBH hosting an event as a central location for those congregants to meet with the candidate?
LM – This is a touchy issue. There is a very serious problem with outside money flooding into this election. I, a resident of this district, am sick and tired of the outside attention this race is receiving. I guess if you support Mr. Ossoff you won’t mind, and if you are tired of his dishonest campaign you will mind. The optics of this are very bad.
CP – I don’t live in the Sixth myself. Am I not allowed to have an opinion on the matter?
LM – An opinion yes. A vote no. You might consider that 6th district people might not appreciate your telling them how to vote.
CP – I’ve told nobody how to do anything, nor has CBH as an organization. As far as “out of district money” I politely encourage you to both look up how much out-of-district money has been spent on Handel (those attack ads ain’t free) and take up your concerns with the Supreme Court re: campaign spending.
LM – The optics of this are bad. As far as your “polite encouragement” I have done some research.
Joshua Lesser · Luther Mckinnon, thanks for your question. Let me share with you how and why this meet and greet happened. A. You’re correct CBH is not in the 6th district. B. Many of our members live in the 6th district. C. The campaign asked if we would hold a meet and greet open to the entire Jewish community. D. There was a significant effort to target invitations to people who live in the district. E. This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement. F. If Handel’s campaign had asked, I would have advocated that we extend her the same courtesy. I hope that puts some of your alarmed concern to rest.
LM – It was not “alarmed concern” as much as annoyance. This campaign is long and noisy. I am working on a blog post as we speak. I will link to it here.
JL – I understand the annoyance. When you use terms like bad optics, that sounds more like alarm to me. What I didnt say is that there has been vigorous debate in the Jewish press about whether Jon is a good choice. I felt like CBH was doing a community service to allow Jewish voters to hear directly from the candidate. I hope youre not too annoyed that a Jewish candidate might want at least one meet and greet with his community.
At the end of the q&a, a lady made an announcement. There was going to be a group of “Jews for Ossoff” canvassing for the candidate. There were going to be many opportunities for volunteer work. “On sunday, we’re all gonna go canvassing together. WHOOHOO!”
“This was explicitly not a fundraising event nor an endorsement.” No, it was a pep rally. People were encouraged to be fired up for Jon Ossoff. If you want to split hairs, you can say this is not an endorsement. Are we supposed to believe that CBH would have staged an event like this for Karen Handel, if her “campaign had asked”?
The phrase “bad optics” has been used. To PG, this is when something looks bad. The thing with “b.o.” may, or may not, have any real effect on the situation, but it looks bad to outsiders. The first time PG heard this phrase serves as an illustration. It was during the debate on whether to build a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. The powers that be want to spend over a billion dollars for a football stadium. Schools don’t have enough money. Roads need repairs and expansion. The sewer system is a disaster. And yet, somehow we want a billion dollars to build a football stadium. Technically, the hotel-motel tax used had been dedicated to financing the Georgia Dome. On one level, it was proper to use this money to build the “Blank Bowl.” However, the schools still don’t have enough money. The overall priorities of our society are questioned. The optics are bad.
How does this apply to a Jon Ossoff pep rally, held outside the 6th district? People outside the district have a right to an opinion. And people inside the district have a right to be annoyed. Whose right is more important? Which group will have a vote in the election? Maybe, just maybe, the campaign by outsiders will annoy the voting population. The voting population might not understand that the enlightened, and wealthy, people outside the district have their best interests at heart. This perceived disrespect might not have the intended effect. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Anglo Persian Oil Company
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 democratic government of Mohammed Mossadeq. The company returned to Iran in 1953, following a U.S.-backed coup that put the Shah in power, and 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. While Israel is making noise about Iran, it takes attention away from the Palestinian tragedy.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost from 2010. TomDispatch is still open. The feature today, Beating the War Drums… Again, is about Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Lying His Ossoff
Another big money mailer from Jon Ossoff arrived today. The man is drowning in cash, most of which is from out of state . He is using this fithly loot to finance a negative campaign against his opponent, the wretched Karen Handel. This is turning into the most repulsive election since Donald Trump vs Hillary Clinton. If anyone can make the charisma challenged Karen Handel look good, it is Jon Ossoff. The spell check suggestion for Ossoff is Kissoff.
The mailer is a piece of big money beauty. It shows a “luxury SUV” against a stretch of asphalt, with some trees in the background. The car is a cut out. When you fold it back, you see Mrs. Handel leaning out the driver’s window, giving a thumbs up. This ad was beautifully printed, and then the car shape was cut out. Somebody spent some major bucks on printing, and mailing, this piece of work.
What is the message that moneybags Ossoff is spreading with this high end product? That Karen Handel is a spendthrift politician. Can we say irony? As JO (the full name is Thomas Jonathan Ossoff, but JO works better) says in this constantly run youtube ad, “both parties in congress waste a lot of money.” If there is anything that JO knows about, it is spending other people’s money.
JO makes questionable claims about his opponent. The state paid for a luxury SUV. Mrs. Handel increased the Secretary of State budget by 42%. And, most shocking of all, Mrs. Handel wanted to spend $15,000 on new chairs for state employees.
Channell 11 has a video about these claims. When Mrs. Handel was Secretary of State, she received a automobile allowance. The other option was to use a state owned vehicle. The allowance was part of the compensation for the job. The allowance has since been discontinued.
The budget of the Secretary of State office did go up while Mrs. Handel was in charge, from $4.7 m in 2006, when Mrs. Handel was elected to the post. The 2009 budget was $6.9m. Mrs. Handel resigned in 2009, to run for Governor in 2010. (Mrs. Handel has a habit of resigning from one office, to seek another.) The Secretary of State budget for 2017 is $29.6m.
Then there is the chair business. “Handel even suggested spending $15,000 on chairs for the Governor’s Office while the state was in “the worst state budget crisis since the Great Depression.” This claim is short on specifics. Here is an email from June 17, 2003, when Mrs. Handel was Deputy Chief of Staff for the Governor.
The budget had a $600,000 surplus. (“the worst state budget crisis since the Great Depression.”) “With this surplus, I suggest that we consider purchasing some new chairs for our folks – the ones we have are universally horrible, and we’re getting a lot of feedback from people about sore backs, etc. I’d say we’d be looking at about $15,000 – $18,000 to get just about everybody new chairs – maybe less since I might be able to strike a volume deal.”
There is no indication about how many chairs are involved, or how the issue was resolved. In the fourteen years since that e-mail, these chairs may have been replaced more than once. If just one of those employees needs surgery for a sore back, the state is going to spend a lot more than $15,000.
While researching this feature, PG found this article from 2010. While Secretary of State, Mrs. Handel “created another controversial voting measure that checks the citizenship of people when they register to vote. The Justice Department criticized that program as unfairly targeting minorities. It is now in the courts.” The State probably spent more than $15,000 defending those measures in court. However, that is not a sexy campaign issue. JO prefers to talk about office chairs.
Karen Handel, aka the Republican Hillary, is a horrible, horrible person. She needs to quit running for public office, and earn an honest living somewhere else. Unfortunately, Jon Ossoff does not appear to be any better.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
HBDBD
This is a repost. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Yesterday was Bob Dylan’s seventy sixth birthday. This chamblee 54 birthday tribute is composed primarily of three previously published pieces of work.
It was a late may morning in Atlanta GA, and a slack blogger was searching his archives. Yes, Issac Asinov never got writers block, and when he wasn’t going to the bathroom he was typing, but that is a lifestyle choice. Easy writing makes tough reading. So, anyway, in the may archive for 2011 there was a post about Bob Dylan’s seventieth birthday. People were taking bets on whether he would make it to thirty, and here he is at seventy five.
Hibbing MN is a cold place. At least it can claim to be the birthplace of Robert Allen Zimmerman. That’s Allen ,with an e, and double L, just like hell. The original initials were RAZ, which might be a good trivia question, or, with a silent W in front, radio station call letters. The problem is, he legally changed his name to Bob Dylan, with no known middle name. Those initial are BD.
On May 24, 1941, the curly haired wonder boi arrived. The world was a different place. Europe was in flames, and eyeing the young men of America as fresh cannon fodder. This was twelve years, eleven months, and eighteen days before PG graced the planet. A twelve year old in Hibbing MN would have no reason to think of a newborn baby in Atlanta GA.
These days, not everyone knows who Bob Dylan is. Auto tuned automated canned music is the next big thing. If auto tune had been around in 1963, we would never had known how badly Mr. Dylan sings. In an age where rappers pay ghost writers to compose their tweets, being able to write songs is not valued. There is just no telling. And so it goes.
A.J. Weberman has made a life out of going through Bob Dylan’s garbage. He wrote a book, “The Devil and Bob Dylan”. “THIS BOOK CHALLENGES ALL PREVIOUS CONVENTIONAL THINKING ABOUT BOB DYLAN. DYLAN IS JUST THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE HIM TO BE. BUT WHAT PURPOSE DOES IT SERVE EXPOSING HIM AS A RACIST, HIV POSITIVE EX-JUNKIE AND HOLOCAUST DENIER? NONE EXCEPT THAT OF TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE. $17 INCLUDING POSTAGE! THE BOOK IS 500 PAGES AND FULLY ILLUSTRATED.
There was a comment on the Bob Dylan webpage… Everybody knows by now that there’s a gazillion books on me either out or coming out in the near future. So I’m encouraging anybody who’s ever met me, heard me or even seen me, to get in on the action and scribble their own book. You never know, somebody might have a great book in them. PG doesn’t write books. He did grow up in America, and has a few opinions about Bob Dylan. It ought to be good for a few hundred words here. (HT to dangerous minds ) (Chamblee54 has posted about Mr. Dylan before.)
The first time PG heard of Bob Dylan was probably at the record rack of Zippy’s dime store in Cherokee Plaza. There was an album of his greatest hits, and it came with a poster. The poster had a drawing of the man, with psychedelic waves of hair cascading in multi colored glory to the edges. PG never did buy the LP.
The former Mr. Zimmerman was never big on top 40 am radio. Somebody somewhere was getting a headache over those lyrics, but Atlanta GA was not somewhere in those days. By this time, Mr. Dylan had crashed his motorcycle, and gone into hiding. As the counter culture exploded (if only someone had disinfected that counter) the curly haired poet was in hiding, the subject of much speculation. At one point, people were stealing his garbage, and claiming to find evidence of investment in munitions firms. The neoscience of Dylanology continues to this day.
As PG got older and stupider, he heard more and more Bob Dylan music. In the summer of 1972, there was a performance at the Concert for Bangladesh. A couple of albums released during this era sucked, and some people stopped caring about Bob Dylan.
At the start of 1974, a tour was announced. The Band was to be the backing group. The circus came to the Omni, and PG got some of the mail order tickets. He couldn’t find anyone to use the second ticket, and sold it to a stranger outside the arena.
The show was nothing special. Bob Dylan excels at writing, is ok in the studio, and blah on stage. Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter was at the show, and was said to look bored. Mr. Dylan was invited to the Governor’s mansion after the show, and talked to the Governor. A lot of people in Georgia were surprised that Jimmy would want to run for President.
As the Seventies went me me meing into sex and drugs oblivion, Bob Dylan regained both his writing touch, and love of the spotlight. The Rolling Thunder tour happened, he got back together with Joan Baez, divorced his wife, became born again, became more Jewish, counted money, and generally lived the life. PG did his own version of all that, without Joan Baez or being circumcised again.
In the winter of 1991, America was consumed by war fever. Saddam Hussein had been elevated to next Hitler status, and had to be taught a lesson. One night, Bob Dylan played on a music awards show, and performed “Masters of War”. He played a discordant version of that ditty, with the result that few understood what he had said. By this time, Mr. Dylan had assembled a band, and gone out on the “Never Ending Tour”. A Bob Dylan concert had gone from being a special event, to being another name on the festival roster. Overexposure will do that.
On the last night of the Olympics in 1996, Bob Dylan played the House of Blues downtown. PG won a pair of the $80 tickets in a radio station contest. It was his only trip downtown during the games, and had to wait in a security line to get into Centennial Olympic Park.
The only celebrity, other than Mr. Dylan, seen at the House of Blues that night was Bill Walton. The band was competent…they impressed PG as being like a bar band that did a lot of Dylan songs, with a strangely authentic lead vocalist. The sound in the room was not good, at least in the spot where PG stood. The only song he recognized was “All along the Watchtower”, the Jimi Hendrix classic. Mr. Dylan got a cheer when he put his harmonica appliance on.
The aptly named dangerousminds has a link to a story about the recording of Blonde on Blonde, by Bob Dylan. It only happened once.
Bob Dylan was 24 years old, newly married, and had “sold out” i.e. started to play electric guitar. A bunch of Canadians known as The Hawks (later The Band) was touring with him. Barely a month after the release of “Highway 61 Revisited”, sessions started at a New York studio.
The New York sessions did not work, so a decision was made to go to Nashville. Al Kooper played organ, and served as a music director. A crew of Nashville players was recruited. A bass player named Joseph Souter, Jr. would become famous a few years later using the name Joe South. Kris Kristofferson was the janitor at the studio.
Most studios have bafflers, or sound proof room dividers, splitting the studio into cubicles. For these sessions, the bafflers were taken down, and the band played together as a unit.
The second session in Nashville started at 6pm and lasted until 530 the next morning. Mr. Dylan was working on the lyrics to “Sad eyed lady of the lowlands”, and the recording could not start until he was ready. The musicians played ping pong and waited. At 4am, the song was ready, and the record was finished in two takes.
PG had marginal encounters with two of the players on this album. He met a lady once, who worked in an insurance office. One of the customers was Joe South. His driving record file was an inch thick.
Al Kooper had a prosperous career after his association with Bob Dylan. The former Alan Peter Kuperschmidt produced the first three Lynyrd Skynyrd albums, sold that contract for a nice piece of change, and lived happily ever after.
One night, Mr. Kooper was playing a show at the Great Southeast Music Hall, and PG sat in front of the stage. During a break between songs, PG asked his friend “what time is it?”. Mr. Kooper heard him on stage, and said it was 11:30.
If it ever quits raining, PG is going to walk to the Chamblee library and return a book, and a cd. The cd is by Bob Dylan, and is a work of genius. The book is about the former Mr. Zimmerman, and is a piece of garbage. (BTW, Dylan is not the only Zimmerman to hit the big time. Ethel Merman was born Ethel Agnes Zimmerman.The Zimmerman telegram got us into World War I. The less said about George Zimmerman, the better)
When returning cd’s to a library, you need to get a check in receipt. Once, PG returned a stack of cd’s to the Brookhaven library. When checking them in, one was missed by the scanner. A few days later, there was a note in the mail about an overdue cd.
The good news was, the cd was on the shelf when PG went back to investigate, and the matter was quickly settled. It did not help that the cd was a collection of disco music called “Shake your booty”.
“The freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” was released in the early sixties, when the man was barely old enough to buy a drink. There is not a bad song on it, and several are classic rock staples. At a time when mindless pop dominated pop music, here were thoughtful, moving lyrics.
In 1991, with America in a war frenzy, Mr. Dylan appeared on a music awards show. He performed “Masters of War”, at a time when the majority would be appalled if they could understand what he was singing. Mr. Dylan has been reinvented many times, and often the lyrics get gargled.
Five years later, PG won tickets to a Bob Dylan concert. It was the last night of the Olympics, and the man was appearing at the House of Blues. (Tickets were $80, so the radio contest is the only reason PG went). It was like hearing a good bar band, that did nothing but Dylan songs, with the man as the vocalist. Due to the mix of the sound, PG could not recognize many of the songs.
The book is Bob Dylan: Prophet, Mystic, Poet by Seth Rogovoy. It tells the Dylan tale as a story of Jewish prophecy. PG got to page 16, where the author claims that “Like a Rolling Stone” “almost single handedly revolutionized rock’n roll music”. Huh?
PG was eating dinner, and did not have anything else to read. He got to page 38. Nothing in the next 22 pages changed his mind away from ditching the book. How does nonsense like this get published?
Snob Supremacy
This is a double repost. There are quotes from a defunct site, Owldolatrous. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This was written in the style of H. P. Lovecraft.
What is a snob? PG always thought it was someone who thought he was better than others. This is one of the “sins” that most people denounce, and then practice. Who doesn’t see someone that is just a few notches below you on the scale of human coolness?
A trip to the dictionary yields this: 1-a person who imitates, cultivates, or slavishly admires social superiors and is condescending or overbearing to others. 2-a person who believes himself or herself an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field: a musical snob.
The origin of the word is amusing. Snob was a nickname for a cobbler, or someone who makes shoes. This is a working class occupation, but one that is needed by all people. How this would become a label for someone who “puts on airs” is a mystery.
There are snobs in a book PG is reading, “The city of falling angels” by John Berendt. An American writer goes to live in Venice, and has tales to tell. At one point, there is a dispute in an organization devoted to restoring stuff in Venice, and some of the players are labeled snobs. On page 318, there is a definition of a snob. You can be a snob upwards, by working the people on a level above you. Or, you can be a snob downwards, by being rude to those on a level below you.
The reader may have figured out by now that this post is going to ramble for a few paragraphs and not really go anywhere. The practice of “uppity”, or “putting on airs”, is hard wired into the consciousness of almost everyone. Like telling the truth and lying, no one wants to admit to being a snob, and yet almost everyone plays the game on some level.
“Supremacy is the habit of believing or acting as if your life, your love, your culture has more intrinsic worth than those of people who differ from you. Supremacy can be about race, but it doesn’t have to be. Supremacy and hate aren’t identical, but they often go together. Some people turn supremacy into an over-arching philosophy. For most, it’s just a habit of mind. As a habit of mind, supremacist ideas can spring up in anyone. Being liberal doesn’t make you immune. Being gay doesn’t make you immune. Being a minority doesn’t make you immune.”
There is more, but this is enough for our morning discussion. Supreme, Supremacy, Supremacism, Supremacist. It is not just for white people. The whole business of thinking that you are somehow better than your neighbor is part of being a human being. Think about it, aren’t there some people that you think you are better than? Of course there are. You are a competitive animal, and you have to win sometimes. You, and your tribe, are just better than that other tribe.
PG saw a sign over a desk once. I have never met a snob who was not a born liar. Above this sign was a plastic case. In the plastic case was a white dress shirt, with an ink stain in the front pocket. Like telling the truth and lying, no one wants to admit to being a snob. Still, almost everyone plays the game. Maybe the sign should have read “I have never met a human being who was not a born liar.“ Many of those lies begin with “I am not a ___.”
There is a concept, mythos over logos. The idea is, when you present people with information that contradicts a long held belief, the person will ignore the information and stick to the belief. This is related to the concept of supremacy. What happens when you think you are better than a person, and you get evidence that the person is better than you? You will ignore that evidence, and continue to believe the person is inferior to you. It helps when your magic book agrees with you.
Is Anti-Racism a form of supremacy? PG associates with a so called “radical community”. There has recently been a rabid discussion about racism. Now, this is a pretty enlightened bunch. The type of virulent racism that PG saw growing up in Georgia is simply not there. This does not stop the Anti Racist Supremacist Egophile (ARSE) from looking for racism to combat. The ARSE will expand the definition of racism to include every PWOC, except him them and his their immediate tribe.
One root word of Supremacy is Supreme. There were once three young ladies performing as “The Supremes.” Four videos are embedded into this post. That is not real hair.
Wednesday Morning Consultants
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 tragedy 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 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 are from The Library of Congress. Images include “Earl Carrol picking beauties for vanities, 1/23/25″ and “Washington Base Ball team 4/25/25.”
People Who Say Racism
@YAppelbaum “10. Bottom line? White, working class Trump voters felt culturally displaced and resentful, not financially stressed” PG saw this tweet while drifting away from a problem poem. Before long, he clicked on a couple of links, and read a few tweets. An idea for a post emerged. Who doesn’t want to read another election post mortem? Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Beyond Economics: Fears of Cultural Displacement Pushed the White Working Class to Trump is the study from PRRI. The study focuses on white voters who did not attend college (WWC.) This group overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump. Because WWC voters were concentrated in key states, their votes became more important in swinging the electoral vote to DJT. The standard issues were discussed in the report, with one exception.
The report used the word racist one time. Racism was not said. “We’re supposed to make the effort to include everybody else. They don’t have to make the effort to include us. I was hysterical laughing over the thing at Eastern Kentucky University. The black student body had a welcome black event. Well, somebody on campus thought they should have a white welcome event. Well, the black one was okay, but the white one, the whole campus went bananas, and it was racist. Now what is the difference?” This was a boldface quote from “Woman.” It was not part of the study.
It Was Cultural Anxiety That Drove White, Working-Class Voters to Trump is the article in The Atlantic. The article is far shorter than the PRRI report. The article identified several items that appeared to be reasons why WWC voters went for DJT. The words “racist” and “racism” did not appear in this article.
One item was noteworthy. ” … 54 percent of white working-class Americans said investing in college education is a risky gamble, including 61 percent of white working-class men.” It would be interesting to see a study ask the same question to graduates dealing with student debt.
The twitter thread listed some of the key points. 4 Almost everything correlates; only four variables proved independently significant. One was Republican Party registration. Not shocking. 5 The 2nd was deportation. 87% of white working-class voters who want to deport undocumented immigrants voted Trump 6 Third? Higher education. WWC voters who think of college as a risky gamble, not an investment, went 2x for Trump: 7 WWC voters who wanted to protect American way of life, or feel like strangers in their own country? 79% for Trump 9 We found economically distressed white, working class voters were 75% more likely to vote for Clinton—not Trump.
Racist/Racism did not appear in the 11 part twitter thread quoted here. Some people say that calls for deportation are racist. However, most people in America think that racism is about the black/white thing. Discussions of this campaign routinely use racism to condemn anything they don’t like, with a special focus on Islam and Mexico. While trash talk about Islam and Mexico is improper, is it really racism? The more often the word is used, the less impact it has.
@zeynep Such a common historical patterns, that it’s not even surprising. Doesn’t make them non-racist, just makes this kind of analysis misleading
@gershonmarx Just say “racist”, Yoni, it’s way fewer characters.
@YAppelbaum I don’t have the data–racial resentment alone wasn’t independently predictive
@gershonmarx What distinguishes “culturally displaced and resentful” from “racist”?
@CSheehanMiles Aside from racism, they’re freaked out about gay marriage, hollywood, people who are transgender, Christmas and Starbucks. Plus racism
@Rachelia72 And losing their guns!
@CSheehanMiles Thanks! How could I leave that out?
Cuck A Doodle Do
Cuck is a popular insult. The primary audience is people who take Milo Yiannopoulos seriously. Cuck is short for cuckold, a time honored insult for a man with an adulterous wife. One popular legend has St. Joseph, the step father of Jesus, as the patron saint of cuckolds.
Urban Dictionary has an alternate perspective. “A word used by White Supremacists to solicit sex. Because they believe people whom they call cucks would want to fuck them. … Cuck itself is an onomatopoeia derived from the moaning sound white supremacists make while fantasizing about getting fucked. It is NOT, as some trolls suggests, derived from “cuckold” – a fantastical troll logic only horny White Supremacists would believe in.”
MTV Decoded recently had a video, The Strange & Gross Origin of “Cuck”. The host is natural hair maven Francesca Ramsey. The entertainment has 42,621 views, with 327 likes, and 9,970 dislikes. This is a 30-1 thumbs-down-to-thumps-up ratio.
Frannie says that cuck is the love child of racism and misogyny. Racism says cuck isn’t his kid, and refuses to pay child support. Frannie offers, as evidence, the popularity of cuck pornography. In CP, a white man watches his white wife get fucked by a black man. CP, with productions like Cuckold Creampie Cleanup, is a noted crowd pleaser.
A possible origin for cuckold is cuckoo. This bird likes to lay its eggs in another bird’s nest. How Republican! As for the etymology, cuckold shows “Middle English cokewold First Known Use: 13th century.” Cuckoo comes from “Middle English cuccu, of imitative origin.” At least one source suggests that cuckoo, the bird, is derived from cuckold, the clueless husband.
Frannie’s video has links in the show notes. It is not known what fact is connected to what source. Still, it is better than having no source at all. One of these stories is from BBC news, Cuckolds, horns and other explanations. This article does not mention racism.
“But that gesture – the hands to the forehead, finger and thumb outstretched. How has that become to mean “you are a cuckold”? One explanation comes from the Roman era. Back then, returning soldiers were given horns, symbolising success on the battlefield. But the horns also came to imply failure in the bedroom, and that it was never a good idea to leave a Roman wife alone for too long. A more common explanation is that a horned beast cannot see its own horns. And husbands are often the last to know about their partner’s infidelities.”
This is a possible source for “horny.” But the fun doesn’t stop there. “In Britain, the word “cuckold” is old-fashioned. But youngsters still love to stick their fingers up behind their friends’ heads in photographs, to make them look silly.”
The Library of Congress supplied the pictures for this feature.
04-30-2017
PG was stumbling through the sunday morning fog, and remembered what day it was. On this day 25 years ago, PG was downtown during a riot. There is a post about this day, 04-30-92, which is repeated below. The idea was to repeat an old story on a slack sunday.
Chamblee54 referenced a post by Atlanta newsmonger Doug Richards. Is his blog still published? Yes, it is. The post today is a doozy, and totally connected to the events of 1992.
One Lousy Word is the title of the post. Yes, it is the word you are thinking. The fishwrapper is more explicit: Valerie Hoff of 11Alive resigns after jokingly using the N-word in private Twitter exchange with black viewer. One day, corporate media will be forbidden to say “N-word.”
The reporter was trying to get a video of a policeman hitting a motorist. @CurtFromDaBlock had the goods. He said (the tweet does not turn up in a search) that “a lot of “news n***as” were trying to track him down for the video.” The reporter sent CFDB a private message, and unwisely repeated the magic word. The reporter resigned from her job later.
The fishwrapper article notes that CFDB is fond of using the magic word. While trying to find the seminal tweet in this thread, a few examples came up. In deference to nasty word mania, *apple* will be substituted for the magic word. @CurtFromDaBlock *apple* you ARE a *apple* RT“@OfficialAmiyah: When yo *apple* got good dick you be paranoid like shit.. “Why you gotta go outside bae?! @CurtFromDaBlock *apple* deserves prom king for all 3 school @CurtFromDaBlock *apple* drinking grape Fanta RT“@_Wrek: That purppppppppppp ”
So this is where we are with race. People talk the talk about systemic/systematic, institutional oppression, and presidential elections. It is not known how much impact this talk has on economic inequality, police misbehavior, and educational opportunity. But let a reporter quote someone using the magic word, in a private message, and the sky falls in. Chicken Little may have a point.
Doug Richards is an Atlanta tv news reporter. He writes a blog, live apartment fire. He was on the scene twenty four years ago. There was a riot downtown. Mr. Richards had a bad night.
PG was working in the Healey building that day. He ran an RMS, or reprographic management service, in an architects office. He had a blueline machine, ran jobs for the customer, and had free time. PG did a lot of exploring, and enjoyed the various events downtown. On April 30, 1992, there was an event he did not enjoy.
The day before, a jury in California issued a verdict. Four policemen were acquitted of wrongdoing in an incident involving Rodney King. The incident had been videotaped, and received widespread attention. The verdict of the jury was not popular. The dissatisfaction spread to Atlanta.
Sometimes, PG thinks he has a guardian angel looking over him. If so, then this thursday afternoon was one of those times. PG went walking out into the gathering storm. He was a block south of the train station at five points, when he saw someone throw a rock into a store front. The sheet metal drapes were rolled down on the outside of the store. PG realized that he was not in a good place, and quickly made his way back to the Healey building.
A group of policeman were lined up in the lobby of the building, wearing flack jackets. One of the police was a white man, who was familiar to workers in the neighborhood. A few weeks before the incident, he had been walking around the neighborhood showing off his newborn baby.
There was very little work done that afternoon in the architect’s office. Someone said not to stand close to the windows, which seemed like a good idea. Fourteen floors below, on Broad Street, the window at Rosa’s Pizza had a brick thrown threw it. There were helicopters hovering over downtown, making an ominous noise.
There was a lot of soul searching about race relations that day. The Olympics were coming to town in four years, and the potential for international disaster was apparent. As it turned out, the disturbance was limited to a few hundred people. It could have been much, much worse. If one percent of the anger in Atlanta had been unleashed that day, instead of .001 percent, the Olympics would have been looking for a new host.
After a while, the people in the office were called into the lobby. The Principal of the firm, the partner in charge of production, walked out to his vehicle with PG and a lady in operations. The principal drove an inconspicuous vehicle, which made PG feel a bit better. PG took his pocketknife, opened the blade, and put it in his back pocket. It probably would not have done him much good.
PG usually took the train downtown. As fate would have it, there was a big project at the main office of redo blue on West Peachtree Street. That is where PG’s vehicle was, in anticipation of working overtime that night. The principal drove PG to this building. PG called his mother, to let her know that he was ok. The Atlanta manager of Redo Blue talked to him, to make sure that he was not hurt.
If PG had not gone back downtown the next day, he might not have ever gone back. He was back at the West Peachtree Street office, and was assured that it was safe to ride the train into town. The Macy’s at 180 Peachtree had plywood nailed over the display windows. A gift shop in the Healey building had a sign in the window, “Black owned business”. Friday May 1, 1992, was a quiet day.
This is a repost. The events of twenty five years ago are mostly forgotten in Atlanta. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Chamblee54 
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