Frank Zappa Says
Recently, the world of flaky internet quotes has discovered Frank Zappa. The “sexually incontinent rock innovator” died December 4, 1993. (His wife Gail passed away October 7, 2025.) Recently, some alleged quotes have hit the ether. Some people need to get out more.
This item was recently featured in chamblee54. @SlavojTweezek “”Communism doesn’t work,” Frank Zappa said, “because people like to own stuff.” Idiot. What do people’s likes have to do with communism?” This quote is plausible. Frank Zappa was a capitalist. He liked owning stuff, especially his own music. It should be easy to find a source. However, the best google can come up with is a compilation, “Quotes of Zappa,” in W. C. Privy’s Original Bathroom Companion.”
This morning, facebook had a meme. It had a picture of FZ, with the quote “Politics is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex.” In the time that it takes to say Camarillo Brillo, Mr. Google turned up a reddit commentary.
“While the quote is frequently listed as, ““Government is the entertainment division of the military-industrial complex,” I could find no primary source. It appears to contradict the actual quote from a 1987 interview with Keyboard magazine where he is decidedly pro-government but anti-bullshit politics.” (FZ did say “art in the service of politics usually makes for boring art.” Why do people make up quotes for memes, when the real thing is better?)
Speculating what a dead man would say is a tricky business. FZ was known for strong opinions, and a finely tuned BS detector. (That is bovine excrement, not Bernie Sanders.) FZ died while the internet was just getting started, and years before some of today’s permutations and perversions. It is easy to imagine FZ making rude comments about people misquoting dead guitar heros.
Speaking of politics and cynical guitar cadavers, the current poster boi for trendy privilege is Bernie Sanders. If you “feel the Bern,” you might want to skip over the rest of this post, and look at the pictures. (These pictures are from The Library of Congress.) While BS is arguably less evil than Hitlery, he still leaves a great deal to be desired. BS is making extravagant promises that he will be totally unable to keep. BS is taking the concept of telling people what they want to hear to new depths. Yes, this is part of what FZ meant when saying rude things about politicians.
Today, PG saw a fundraising appeal for BS. Against his better judgment, PG made the comment “Bernie $anders.” The fun started almost immediately.
This campaign is for monthly recurring contributions. And Luther, campaigning requires money. The alternative to grassroots support is a country run by wealthy interests. Which would you prefer? ~ I realize that campaigning for political office requires money. My comment was a bit of recreational $nark. B$ can take a joke. … “The alternative to grassroots support is a country run by wealthy interests.” I am not sure about that comparison. Hitlery can make more in one corporate blowjob than BS can in a month of grass roots support. BHO did not get a billion dollars for his reelection from five dollar contributions. While the concept of grassroots support is uplifting, the sordid reality is that we live in a bribe-ocracy. ~ Your cynicism is less than accurate and certainly less than appealing. ~ Luther, just don’t vote and stay out of discussions about voting. OK?
Brookhaven Mayoral Election
Once upon a time, Brookhaven was a neighborhood, just east of the Atlanta city limits on Peachtree Road. There was a man named Bobby, who would stand at the corner of Peachtree and Dresden watching the traffic. Bobby didn’t say very much. Some say Bobby was “challenged’, while others said he was a dinged out Nam vet. Bobby, a big, big man, was called “the Mayor of Brookhaven.” No one seems to know what happened to Bobby.
Years later, the City of Brookhaven was created. The first Mayor was J. Max Davis, another big, big man. After a while in office, Mr. Davis resigned so he could run for the state legislature. There were some amusing rumors about sexual misconduct, involving a can of Lysol.
In a few days, Brookhaven voters will elect a new Mayor. PG took a telephone poll about the election, which mentioned two candidates. PG had been under the impression that three people were running for the office. The thought of a runoff was appalling. PG asked Mr. Google for help.
The confirming article said Williams drops out of Brookhaven Mayor’s race. Acting Mayor Rebecca Chase Williams had dropped out of the race. It seems as though her husband, former fishwrapper columnist Dick Williams, had taken a bad fall. He was facing a lengthy recuperation, and his wife decided to get out of politics to help. The remaining candidates were “attorney John Ernst and competitive eater Dale Boone.”
Competitive eater? For someone to replace Bobby and J. Max, a professional eater might work. Mr. Boone clarifies the matter a bit. “I’m not a competitive eater. I’m the defending world champion. There’s a huge difference. I’m the top one,” the 49-year-old Boone said. (For you aficionados, Boone says his top ranking comes through the World League of Competitive Eating, not the International Federation of Competitive Eating.) ”
PG first heard of Dale Boone when he saw campaign signs on Briarcliff Road. This is south of I 85, and outside the Brookhaven city limits. According to a recent financial report, Mr. Boone has spent $624.68, after raising $3,880. “Boone had a handful of donors, including some restaurant ownership groups. His campaign also reports more than $5,000 in debt.”
John Ernst, who will probably win, is running a conventional campaign. There are the glossy mailouts, with pictures of adorable children. Mr. Ernst promises to clean up Brookhaven city government. presumably without using Lysol. Taxes will be cut, and trust in government restored created. The acheive this goal. Mr. Ernst has raised $55,918.28, and spent $22,616.64. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
A Trillion Dollars
This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. The full text of one section is available, and has amusing stories about Richard Nixon and Antonin Scalia. This feature is about the national debt. When BHO took office, the annual federal budget deficit was over a trillion dollars. According to this source, the annual deficit is now $439 billion. This is more than the total national debt that the late Everett Dirkson was losing sleep over in the sixties. Nonetheless, it is considerably less than the deficit when BHO took office. BHO, bless his drone firing heart, is given credit for reducing the deficit more than any POTUS in history.
… The last quote is from another POTUS who is no longer with us, Ronald Reagan. “I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.” Mr. Reagan was a professional actor, and he knew the value of a good script.
This slogan is another one that Mr. Obama may find handy. It should be noted that it was a big deal when the national debt (the grand total of the deficits) went over a trillion dollars. This was during the first term of Mr. Reagan. Today, under Mr. Obama, the annual deficit is over a trillion dollars. Sooner or later, you are talking about real money.
PG suffered brain damage trying to find out more about the quote from Mr. Reagan. He went through six pages of google. There must be 25 sites which have lists of quotes from Mr. Reagan, and all of them feature this quote. None have an actual source.
What was the context? When did he first say it? One site says it was “(during the latter years of his administration)”. Another site says it was “Said often during his presidency, 1981-1989”. Maybe this is an urban legend. As Mr. Reagan said, don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
Those of a certain age remember Everett Dirksen. A Republican Senator from Illinois, he was blessed with an operatic voice, and cursed with a face that could stop a clock. He is credited (or blamed) for the quote ” A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” The Dirksen Congressional Center can neither confirm nor deny if he really said that. The discussion of this reputed quote does turn up a passage, that is germane to today’s conversation.
“One time in the House of Representatives [a colleague] told me a story about a proposition that a teacher put to a boy. He said, ‘Johnny, a cat fell in a well 100 feet deep. Suppose that cat climbed up 1 foot and then fell back 2 feet. How long would it take the cat to get out of the well?’
“Johnny worked assiduously with his slate and slate pencil for quite a while, and then when the teacher came down and said, ‘How are you getting along?’ Johnny said, ‘Teacher, if you give me another slate and a couple of slate pencils, I am pretty sure that in the next 30 minutes I can land that cat in hell. If some people get any cheer out of a $328 billion debt ceiling, I do not find much to cheer about concerning it.” [Congressional Record, June 16, 1965, p. 13884].
Senator Dirksen went to the fundraising dinner in the sky September 7, 1969. Twelve years later, the Reagan revolution was getting started. Taxes were cut, and spending increased. In a couple of years, the national debt went over a trillion dollars. (The annual budget deficit is now over a trillion dollars.) For those new to the game, a trillion is a billion, multiplied by a thousand. For all the numbers above, multiply by a thousand, to get a trillion.
In 1965, Senator Dirksen was losing sleep, over raising the national debt to $328 billion. The current national debt is estimated at $16,964,687,666,420. This is 5171% of 328 billion.
In 1965, the national debt was $328 billion, and we were losing 100 men every week in Vietnam. One of the more expensive things the government does is fight wars. Currently we are officially killing people in Afghanistan, and several more countries that no one knows about (nudge wink).
On September 11, 2001, The United States was attacked. Revenge was the order of the day. There are now indications that this was one of the goals of Al Queda. The Soviet Union imploded, in large part, because of the strain of fighting a war in Afghanistan. Now, the United States is waist deep in the same big muddy. Whoever is elected in 2016 will have to deal with this matter.
Afghanistan has a gross national product of $27 billion. The Congressional Research Service estimates the cost of American operations in Afghanistan for 2011 to be $119 billion. This is over four times the gross national product of Afghanistan. Pretty soon, you are talking about real money.
Free Bacon
There was a tweet. Perspicacious One @JessSmith_TPC LOLOLOL Can’t make this stuff up @EWErickson President’s Speech Defending Obamacare Nearly Kills Innocent Woman http://shar.es/ES3kQ. The link is to a story, President’s Speech Defending Obamacare Nearly Kills Innocent Woman. The medium is something called The Washington Free Beacon. Free Bacon is a typo.
TWFB has some interesting stories. When PG was a kid, his mother said story when she meant lie. One entertaining example is Pro-Iranian Regime Journalist Defends Controversial Tweet Former translator for Ahmadinejad called WSJ editor ‘Iranian House Negro’. The offending tweeter owns a fashion blog, the house of Majd. Rumors that Mr. Ahmadinejad is a model cannot be confirmed.
A more believable story is Netanyahu’s Mission: To Head Off Iran Sanctions Relief. The thought of a deal between Iran and the West is very troubling to Israel. An important distraction to the Palestinian tragedy would be removed by the rehabilitation of Iran. One interesting section of the story mentions 911 labor supplier Saudi Arabia. “Saudi Arabia, another key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is also deeply worried about any sign of a deal between Washington and the kingdom’s arch-rival, Iran.”
Free Bacon is the order of the day in the last story we will look at. USDA Celebrates Forcing Kids to Try Kale, Chard, Collard Greens. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) extolled a local elementary school in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for making its students try broccoli gratin, Tuscan kale, and beet hummus, as an example of the department’s efforts to fight obesity.” Pictures for this repost are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Martin O’Malley
There was a lovely comment on facebook. “Ok, I used to think it was just that I was biased, but I have since confirmed that this is an objective statement (don’t ask how, just trust me): these white boys y’all be swearing are fine are just not. It’s like the criteria for fineness in the white demographic is “does not look like a coked out naked mole rat post-mortem.” I mean, seriously. Martin O’Malley???” If you have popcorn handy, the rest of the thread is entertaining.
Since the Democratic debate, Martin O’Malley has surged ahead as the glamour dude of the current campaign. The Democratic Party, in the days of John Kennedy and Bill Clinton, used to stand for sexual performance. Now the front runners are Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. It does not take much for Mr. O’Malley to stand out.
On the Republican side, things are not much better, The Mod Squad of Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina are a plastic surgeon’s fantasy. Ted Cruz looks like a refugee from Archie comic books. Jeb Bush inspires nostalgia for his handsome brother. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio have a bit of charm, and may come out ahead in the all important looks department.
Political races are supposed to be about issues, but really they are about image and fundraising. Do they have naked pictures of Hillary in the inner sanctum of the one percent? Have the former long haired hippies gone establishment for Donald Trump? Maybe it is the standards of political grooviness that have caused the country to go off the rails. If a fuddy duddy like Martin O’Malley is seen as a hot daddy, we may be in worse shape than imagined. Pictures from The Library of Congress.
Bernie
The facebook comment was “Get to know Bernie Sanders.” There was a video attached. It was from the debate, held on Tuesday the 13th. With the help of the rush transcript, lets see what was said.
(Moderator Anderson) COOPER: … How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States? (Senator Bernie) SANDERS: Well, we’re going to win because first, we’re going to explain what democratic socialism is. … I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.
AC asked BS a question. The response was to make a speech, which did not answer the question. Or maybe he did. Apparently, a democratic socialist is someone who makes nonsense speeches that fire up the base, but do nothing to solve the problem. Or maybe the plan is to compare the United States to a Scandinavian Country with as many people as Metro Atlanta. A country that does not have a 1989 mile border with a poor country.
COOPER: Denmark is a country that has a population — Denmark is a country that has a population of 5.6 million people. The question is really about electability here, and that’s what I’m trying to get at. … SANDERS: Well, first of all, let’s look at the facts. The facts that are very simple. Republicans win when there is a low voter turnout, and that is what happened last November. Sixty-three percent of the American people didn’t vote, Anderson. Eighty percent of young people didn’t vote. We are bringing out huge turnouts, and creating excitement all over this country. Democrats at the White House on down will win, when there is excitement and a large voter turnout, and that is what this campaign is doing.
Typically, the November election comes down to a handful of “swing states.” This is because the electoral college has stolen the presidential vote from the majority of Americans. If you have any questions, ask Al Gore how important it is to win the popular vote.
This was the first time PG had seen BS in a debate. It did not look good. To begin with, BS is an elderly man, who was probably ugly when he was younger. The years have not been kind to BS, or HDRC. There were three other men on the stage, but they don’t count.
BS comes across as a rather unpleasant person. He shouts a lot. BS comes across as a crusty old relative who is always right. After a while, you just want to ignore the old coot.
There were a few gems that are not getting attention. Like this, from a rant about gun control: “I believe that everybody in this country who has a mental crisis has got to get mental health counseling immediately.” Who will assign this counselor? What if the help makes the problem worse? Mental health is not an exact science. Is this going to be part of the overall government health care program, paid for “through a tax on Wall Street speculation.” This TOWSS is also going to provide tuition free college, and whatever wars the military industrial complex thinks are important.
SANDERS: “I am not a pacifist, Anderson. I supported the war in Afghanistan. I supported President Clinton’s effort to deal with ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. I support air strikes in Syria and what the president is trying to do.”
The military industrial complex is spending America into oblivion. The war in Afghanistan has helped nobody except the heroin dealers. The air war in Syria has the potential to drag America into a confrontation with Russia, while Israel sits next door eating popcorn. Is this what a “Democrat Socialist” does? Especially one know to be a supporter of Israel.
Bernie has a vision about how these utopian programs are going to happen. “…But the only way we can get things done is by having millions of people coming together. If we want free tuition at public colleges and universities, millions of young people are going to have to demand it, and give the Republicans an offer they can’t refuse. If we want to raise the minimum wage to $15 bucks an hour, workers are going to have to come together and look the Republicans in the eye, and say, “We know what’s going on. You vote against us, you are out of your job.”
Semantics were central to the entertainment. BS was going to “explain what democratic socialism is.” And a facebookker had a question about the dueling hashtags.. “do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?” Does it have to be an either-or choice? Is the hashtag employed really that important? BS was quick to say that “black lives matter,” and had a wonderful speech memorized for “the reason those words matter.” Maybe this is another matter for the Tax on Wall Street Speculation. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Old College Friend
A facebook post has been making the rounds. It starts off “I got a call this morning from an old college friend who’s been a lifelong Republican (for years we’ve kidded one another about our respective politics), who told me he had decided to leave the GOP.” The “old college friend” is not named. The post is a comprehensive list of “progressive” hot buttons. The ding ding ding you hear is the BS detector…looking for bovine excrement, not Bernie no-middle-name Sanders.
The perp is wannabe celebrity Robert Reich. His twitter profile mentions product for sale … “@RBReich Berkeley prof, former Sec. of Labor. Movie INEQUALITY FOR ALL now on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon. Book SAVING CAPITALISM: FOR THE MANY, NOT THE FEW out Sept 29.” The Google sidebar adds a few details. “Robert Reich Former United States Secretary of Labor · robertreich.org. Robert Bernard Reich is an American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator. Born: June 24, 1946 (age 69), Scranton, PA Height: 4′ 11″”
His name is similar to Reichstag. In 1933, a fire broke out in the Berlin Reichstag. It was blamed on Communists. The Nazi Party used the uproar surrounding the Reichstag fire to consolidate their power. The cause of the Reichstag fire is controversial to this day.
The facebook post is flaky. The “old college friend” seems to suddenly be a flaming liberal, concerned about “a woman’s right to choose, and of gays’ and lesbians’ right to marry.” Honestly, how many sixty something republicans leave the party because of gay marriage? But it must be ok, because the obligatory denunciation of “their racism!”has an exclamation point.
OCF lists as good republicans Mark Hatfield, Nelson Rockefeller, Jacob Javits, Barry Goldwater and John McCain. Most of these white men performed before the the typical facebook reader was born. Barry Goldwater was regarded as an “extremist” when he ran for President in 1964. His supporters booed Nelson Rockefeller off the stage at the republican convention. During the November election, against future war criminal Lyndon B. Johnson, Barry Goldwater was defeated in a landslide. The only states, outside of home state Arizona, to go for Mr. Goldwater were states in the deep south. They appreciated Mr. Goldwater’s vote against the Civil Rights Act.
At last count, the post received 95,923 likes, 40,031 shares, and 7,802 comments. Critical thought is not a popular item these days. While PG agrees with Mr. Reich about many of the issues raised, he is not impressed with the way the story is told. The only believable part of this document is the exclamation point after racism. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
The Clown Car Debate
The Republican debate the other night was weird. At one point, the … the phone rings. PG spends the next few minutes talking about William Burroughs, Edgar Allan Poe, alcoholics, Diamond Lil, and thirteenth street in 1970. Two people talking on cell phones is asking for reception trouble, especially when one is on speaker phone. All change is not progress.
One reality challenged clown car rider was Carly Fiorna. She is the new star of this circus. As one impolite facebooker noted, “If Carly Fiorina REALLY wants to kill Planned Parenthood…she should become its CEO.” Through the magic of internet transcript, here is Carly in action.
Dana, I would like to link these two issues, both of which are incredibly important, Iran and Planned Parenthood. One has something to do with the defense of the security of this nation. The other has something to do with the defense of the character of this nation. You have not heard a plan about Iran from any politician up here, here is my plan. On day one in the Oval Office, I will make two phone calls, the first to my good friend to Bibi Netanyahu to reassure him we will stand with the state of Israel.The second, to the supreme leader, to tell him that unless and until he opens every military and every nuclear facility to real anytime, anywhere inspections by our people, not his, we, the United States of America, will make it as difficult as possible and move money around the global financial system. We can do that, we don’t need anyone’s cooperation to do it. And every ally and every adversary we have in this world will know that the United States in America is back in the leadership business, which is how we must stand with our allies.
As regards Planned Parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, I dare Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fully formed fetus on the table, it’s heart beating, it’s legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.
There is a contradiction here. On the one hand, you say that life is sacred. On the other hand, if that life belongs to a child in Gaza, then Israel can murder that child at will.
The Planned Parenthood videos are considered phony by a great many people. The repub base likes to believe in far fetched things, so this appeal works. The scene described by Mrs. Fiorina is not present in any of the videos released thus far. Creative editing only goes so far. This lie is easy to disprove.
Ok, back to reality. Towards the end of the affair, the question was “What woman would you like to see on the $10 bill?” Chris Christie began his answer by saying “I think the Adams family has been shorted in the currency business.” Millions of viewers thought Morticia Addams was going to be on the $10 bill. The pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. It is a long time until Georgia Primary, the only time we get a choice.
The New MLK
Part of the problem with the Social Justice Jihad is the tsunami of rhetoric. Millions of words come out every day, often with great anger, passion, and volume. If you doubt the truth of anything you hear, you run the risk of being called (cue dramatic music) racist. The simple truth is that a lot of what is said is simply not true. When you ask someone for documentation for their claims, the fun begins.
@THEAlleyeceeing Same people that said victims of police violence should’ve just respected the law are calling #KimDavis the new MLK.
chamblee54 @THEAlleyeceeing @fieldnegro
Do you have links showing one person having these two opinions?
@THEAlleyeceeing @chamblee54 @fieldnegro Huckabee Cruz should I type it for you as well?
chamblee54 @THEAlleyeceeing @fieldnegro
i asked for links you know, documented evidence rather than just you heard it
@THEAlleyeceeing @chamblee54
you could have googled it by now instead of still expecting me to do your work.
chamblee54 @THEAlleyeceeing i did google the last part, the only one saying that is Rick Santorum-you were the one speaking without evidence or backup
The tweeter who started this is THE CONNET @THEAlleyeceeing. The profile says “Social Media Assassins Guild, Assassins Embassy.” There is a link, TheConnet.wix.com. When you click on the link, you get this message: “We Looked Everywhere For This Page! (Error 404) But maybe we can still help you find what you’re looking for.”
When you google the phrase “calling #KimDavis the new MLK,” you find an article, Santorum Compares Kim Davis’ Jailing to Martin Luther King’s. The former senator, aka frothy mix, was on a radio show. After praising Kim Davis, Mr. Santorum noted that “Martin Luther King went to jail because he didn’t follow the law.” Is this calling Kim Davis the new MLK? Some say it does, while others disagree. What did “Huckabee Cruz” say? Who knows?
Later in the interview, Mr. Santorum said the Iran Nuclear Deal was “The greatest betrayal … in the history of our country.” A quick google search for “victims of police violence should’ve just respected the law Rick Santorum” did not yield any results. Google corrected the spelling of respect.
When you say something online, you should show where you got your information. Memes, and twitter, are not conducive to backing up your rhetoric. When people get mad when you ask them for documentation, that is an indication that they don’t know what they are talking about. This reckless dissemination of bogus information is a serious problem for the social justice jihad. Just because you talk loud does not mean you are telling the truth.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. UPDATE:
@fieldnegro @chamblee54 @thealleyeceeing Well her lawyer compared her to MLK. And so did your fellow wingnut on FOX. https://rawstory…
This Connection is Untrusted You have asked Firefox to connect securely to http://www.rawstory.com, but we can’t confirm that your connection is secure. Normally, when you try to connect securely, sites will present trusted identification to prove that you are going to the right place. However, this site’s identity can’t be verified.
chamblee54 @fieldnegro @THEAlleyeceeing firefox said the link to raw story was “untrusted” -i do not watch FOX, and nobody there is “fellow wingnut”
chamblee54 @fieldnegro @THEAlleyeceeing http://wp.me/pca2S-bU4 here is what i found out by doing the research that The Connet should have done
@THEAlleyeceeing @chamblee54 @fieldnegro 😂😂😂😂it only took you 8 hours.
@THEAlleyeceeing @chamblee54 KimDavis is no MLK #MLKim http://bit.ly/1JUASBu
chamblee54 @THEAlleyeceeing That is something I agree with
@THEAlleyeceeing @chamblee54 that was sohars to find.
Adventures With Obamacare
After making the bold move of getting out of bed, PG was ready for action. He was not afraid to answer the phone. It was a robo call from the Health Insurance Marketplace. There were some issues with your account. Please call this 800 number, and tell them you got this call. PG did not listen fast enough to catch the number. Not that he would call it anyway.
When dealing with Government agencies, it is a good idea to answer phone calls and letters. Even if you thought you covered it, another agent may have a different opinion. Obamacare is sort of a good idea, with multiple implementation issues. Both G-d, and the Devil, are in the details.
The first stop was the O-care website. It had been a while since PG visited this facility. The device asked PG to choose a new password. The link was sent to the email address. The link was selected. First you have to answer the security questions. Since PG wrote down these details, this should be easy. No, the device did not like the answers PG gave. Click on the link, start over, and provide the security questions with a few more capital letters. PG was allowed to create a new password.
The new password was written, copied, and pasted into the appropriate fields. Then it was time to log on to HIM wonderland. The password was pasted into the appropriate field. The device said the password was not correct. Refresh the page, enter the user name, include a capital letter at the start, manually type in the password. Bingo.
The site did not show any problems. The same two messages that PG downloaded in April are still there. It is time to call the HIM 800 number, and talk to a person. Maybe the Health Insurance Marketplace needs a gender neutral acronym. Is Obamacare masculine, or feminine?
So the HIM 800 number is called. PG knew to press zero,and speak to an operator. The voice answering droid asked what state PG was in. Georgia. What was that, we cannot understand you. Georgia, with a bit of anger. We cannot understand you. We need to know what state you bought insurance in. Georgia, a bit louder and angrier. We cannot understand what you are saying. Please enter the zip code in the touch tone keypad.
After seven minutes on hold, a very nice man appeared. He looked in his computer, and did not see any problems. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The spell check suggestions for robo: robot, rob, robe, hobo.
#Blackslogansmatter
Ray Lewis used to play pro football. Wednesday, he appeared at a “public safety summit” in Newark NJ. Mr. Lewis said “”Remove the word black and say ‘lives matter,’Stop sending mothers back home empty. You can never replace a mother’s child. If we want black lives matter, let’s make it matter to us. That’s the new call.”
Twitter nation was not amused. #Raylewis was a trending subject for a day or so, until the latest hashtag hatching. Tweet superstar Deray Mckesson led the charge. “Who can call Ray Lewis and let him know that “all lives matter” ain’t it? Because this is the only tweet I’ve got for him tonight.”
Many commenters said that Mr. Lewis had killed someone, and should not be discussing whether lives matter. They were referring to an incident in Buckhead, after the 2000 Super Bowl. If you read beyond the headline, you learn that Mr. Lewis almost certainly did not kill the young men. Those calling Mr. Lewis a murderer probably don’t read past the first sentence of his quote.
Many say the City of Atlanta was too hasty in charging Mr. Lewis with the murder. The prospect of a high profile prosecution was enchanting to the local criminal justice establishment. The case quickly fell apart during the trial. Mr. Lewis accepted a plea bargain for lesser charges. This is a common problem, when you allow justice to become a popularity contest.
There is one tweet that stands out. @Delo_Taylor “No @raylewis I will not remove my blackness to appease white supremacy. So disappointed right now. #BlackLivesMatter” Another has been deleted, but lives on nonetheless. “I cant. No patience for coonery.”
It should not be surprising that people say foolish things on twitter. Nor should it be noteworthy for politicians. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said “People want to talk about violence without talking about inequality because they benefit from inequality,” Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Chamblee54 
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