Chamblee54

John McCain was a candidate for President. He is the reason Sarah Palin (spell check suggestions: plain, pain, paling) is famous. He is currently involved in a tough campaign for re election in Arizona. (And who was representing Arizona while Mr. McCain was running for President?)
He has an ad on TV, making noise about immigration. It is filmed at the border, and features a law man. What the ad does not say is, the talking sheriff works 115 miles north of the border.
The sheriff of the border county, where the ad was filmed, has a different story to tell. “the Santa Cruz County Sheriff who’s job would be to enforce the law in and around Nogales has been quite critical of Arizona’s race-baiting policies, such as the recently passed SB 1070. “Local law enforcement has a great relationship with the Hispanic community,” said Sheriff Antonio Estrada about the new law. “Something like this is really going to scare these people.” …The Sheriff of neighboring Pima County (which covers a large swath of Arizona’s border with Mexico) was even more blunt. Calling the law “racist,” “disgusting” and “stupid,” Sheriff Clarence Dupnik has gone so far as to say he will order his deputies not to enforce SB 1070 – even though it subjects such law enforcement to liability if they don’t start racial profiling. “
Ht to LittleGreenFootballs.

PG left the job interview, and headed to the dmv. The man said to get a mvr, which is something you want to hear at the end of a job interview.
The Department of Motor Vehicles is a place where you wait. It is not possible to get through in less than an hour. For emergencies like this, PG keeps a book in his vehicle…Tales of Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet. PG was at a yard sale once, in the hottest part of the summer. TOM was on sale for one dollar, and PG was going to pass, but when he got back to his bike, the creeping heat told him to go back up the driveway and buy that book.
The lady in front of PG in line has a birth certificate from Miami Florida. Why are Miami birth certificates so pretty, when the Fulton county thing PG has is a negative image copy, ugly as sin? Maybe it is compensation for something.
There are two old ladies in line before the lady from Miami. They both have hair dyed some hideous shade of faux blonde. Whatever happened to letting your hair go white, and being proud of living that long?
So PG got his number, and found a plastic chair that seemed clean. For the next forty five minutes, every time a number was announced, he would look up at the lightboxes above the booths. This did not make his number come up any faster, and before long PG realized that every time he had been in a government waiting room, his number got called, if he only waited long enough.
Back to the book, which was a series of short stories, told in easy to read sentences. The first story was about a bartender in Key West, who tried to drown himself in the waist deep water off the shore. He heard the phone ring in his house, and he decided to go back and answer. It was the phone company, calling to say it was cutting off his service for not paying his bill. When that was over, he was so angry, he decided he wanted to live.
The next tale was about a young man who meets his rock and roll star hero, and winds up hanging out with him. The hero tells the young man there are rules for becoming a star. They were ( in paraphrased, copyright dodging form) the bar owner is your enemy, some folks are elbows, and will always be like that, and stay out of police custody. The rockstar is telling stories that get wilder and wilder, like the time he was playing in Montana, the audience was breaking the guinness record for drinking cheap beer, and his bass player and keyboard man are fighting on stage.
Before this story was over, the number was called, and PG got his mvr. How the story turned out will have to wait until the next waiting room. Pictures are from the Library of Congress.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you.
Millions of people have heard this . It is a part of the process, a message that you are indeed in trouble. It takes less than a minute. Now, some people think that for a “terrorist”, that one minute is too much time.
After the botched bombing in Times Square, there are new calls for someone labeled “terrorist” to lost the basic rights of citizens. It is up to the authorities to decide who gets called the T word. Many so called conservatives, who should know better about the folly of trusting the authorities with our freedom, want to give big brother this ability ( to label anyone a terrorist, and deem them unworthy of having rights).
The sad part is that our President agrees. The administration ” said Sunday it would seek a law allowing investigators to interrogate terrorism suspects without informing them of their rights.” If Mr. Holder knows as much as he claims about the Times Square wannabomber, couldn’t he get a conviction without testimony from the defendant?
This blog doesn’t feel warm and fuzzy about Faisal Shahzad, or anyone else who wants to kill people. He also does not trust law enforcement. They can expand the definition of terrorist at will, to include anyone johnny law has a problem with. That is why we have a constitution, and we make the police prove their case in court. Today it is the wannabomber, tomorrow it may be you or me.
Matt Taibbi (pronounced like the island) has a good quote on the administration, and our liberties. “The only reason we’re even talking about this Miranda issue is because a bunch of morons on talk radio made a big fuss about it, and if our president is going to go sticking his thumbs into the constitution every time he can’t take a few days of getting reamed by a bunch of overpaid media shills whose job it is to hate him no matter what he does, then we’re all in a lot of trouble.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

Bloggingheads likes to have a science podcast on saturday, frequently with these two old men. This week, they were all over the place. The first “write it down” moment was at 39:00, when someone said that people who wear bicycle helmets are more likely to have accidents. This was related to the way that plastic helmets have led to harder hitting in football, with an increase in injuries.
The next high point came at 51:00, with a consideration of “the moral calculus of weeds”. This took up the rest of the hour, with the comment that “you’re lucky those weeds are rooted in the ground and can’t come back after you”. There are pesticide resistant weeds, the air pollution caused by tillers versus chemical controls, and all sorts of spill off issues. The closing comment about weeds not seeking (obvious) revenge reminded PG of the deer hunt balance, with zero hunters shot by a deer.
The text only internet is not to be denied. Obsidianwings supplies this tasteful quote by Sean Hannity: (spell check suggestions:Hannibal, humanity) “Hannity: I’ve actually had an idea — no one listens to little ol’ Sean Hannity. But I’m like — I think the Iraqis, with all their oil resources, need to pay us back for their liberation. Every single solitary penny. “
Aside from the jaw dropping amorality here, there is a practical reason to oppose this. As a commenter says ” I am sure the Kuwaitis will be very happy to relieve Iraq of reparations from 1990, just so the money could be sent to us…not to mention the rest of the international community that was strong armed to reduce or eliminate Saddam era debts.
Aside from whether we deserve Iraqi money, debt would destroy any chance (however slim)of Iraq emerging from a nightmare. We would get neither money nor “victory.”
Mr. Hannity used to work in Atlanta, before he became a Fox superstar. PG stalked him once.
It was during a parade downtown. Veterans Day comes to mind…a weekday parade that does not get a large crowd. Mr. Hannity was riding in a convertible, waving at the crowds. PG began to follow the car, looking at Mr. Hannity with a blank look. Finally, the talent took notice of PG, and said “Are we having fun yet?”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

PG recently got a temp job making deliveries, and someone said you need a gps device. After thinking long and hard, and taking notes in different stores, the purchase was made.
You don’t just plug these things in and run. Fortunately, PG had a day before he started to experiment. You learn to listen between the lines. When the device says 400 yard ahead, and you know that it is really 200 feet, you just make the turn where you know you need to go.
The first day of the job started, and PG was in a familiar neighborhood, and found the first stop with a map. Then, he had to decide where to go next, and noticed that the list of stops was in a logical order. The device was plugged in, the next stop punched in ( zipcode, streetname, number …something you learn during experiment day), and the next stop appeared, as if by magic.
The afternoon of the second day, the job was getting a bit easier, and the device was working like a charm. You learn that it will tell you to make a turn twice, and will tell you again before the turn. If you pass a street, and it doesn’t say to turn, then that is not the stop.
PG began to think too much, and realized that there was an element of trust, and “submitting to a higher power” in the device. While you are getting a message, sometimes you have to understand the message. A few minutes later, PG drove through spaghetti junction, and the device got confused. The good news is, PG knew the correct ramp to get on.
About an hour later, the device said to stay on Pleasant Hill and cross Peachtree Industrial. (Atlanta readers will know these are heavy traffic roads). As soon as the crossing was made, the device said to turn around and make a left turn. The honeymoon is over.
The stop of the moment turned out to be a nail salon in a shopping center…at the location where PG was turned around. Instead, PG took a left at the light, and drove a half mile north until the device told him to turn into an apartment complex. The complex had a gate, and PG called the lady on the list. She was Vietnamese. After a few confusing minutes of conversation, PG made another left turn on Peachtree Industrial (without a light), and found the nail salon.
The directions for the next stop were punched into the device. Make another left on Peachtree Industrial, and turn right into the gated complex. Call the lady, and find out that she does not live in a gated complex. Instead, she lives in a complex off a road a mile south. PG turns the device off and finds the complex using the verbal instructions.
The good news is, the device started to perform better after this, but the aura of perfection was in a tangled heap, at the gated complex. The next day, PG had a stop in “de hood”, and the device gave a couple of shaky instructions. Perry Boulevard is no place to get lost, especially on a delivery with no telephone number. The stop was a retirement home, the lady was located on the phone box in the lobby, and all was well in the world.

Part two is a repost . Maybe I am not a real man. I once asked for directions.I don’t think that jokes about asking directions are very funny.
It is a rule that female comedians cannot perform without telling at least one joke about men not asking for directions. Never mind that when you ask for directions, you are asking for trouble. Many directions from strangers will leave you more lost than you already were.
With GPS systems coming into popularity, the female comedian is an endangered species.That is, unless she marries a Cuban bandleader, cries a lot, and dyes her hair red.
Did the Three Stooges ever ask for directions?
Why did Moses wander in the desert for forty years? He wouldn’t ask for directions.
Mapquest is not a perfect solution. It can steer you into wild goose land just as surely as that toothless man at the gas station.
One I had to take something to a place outside Gainesville. My boss gave me the mapquest directions he had used before, and said that he got lost using them.
I called the lady I would be taking the product to. She gave me directions to the place, and I found it without a problem. ( Sometimes people give good instructions). I mentioned that her directions were good, and she said that they were the same ones she gave my boss.
Mapquest is a good tool, but is not the final word. A map book is your friend, even if it is not perfect. Urban Legend has it that cartographers will insert nonexistent streets into their product as a method of copyrighting. Maybe female comedians can make jokes about that.

This is a repost. My newest frequentfolder blog is twentytwowords. He posted a thingie today called
“10 things we don’t mention in worship songs, but that I’m happy God saved me from”

1- Jesus Worship
2- Getting caught driving DUI
3- republican politics
4- pre arthroscopy knee surgery
5- believing the doctor who told me to get spine surgery
6- The Unification Church
7- confusing G-d for my father
8- Living anywhere except Georgia
9- cable television
10-Making complete lists

PG foolishly answered the question “If you’re not proclaiming the Gospel, why not?”. His reasoning involved non agreement and good taste, and he soon found himself in a fun filled dialog. After the third entry, someone named “Otternam” made this observation: Zach, I was anon earlier, but I can talk now… chamblee is a troll, so don’t play too rough, ok? I can’t tell if he is Jewish or simply superstitious with the whole G-d wordplay… Id just cut to the chase and use the tetragrammaton… “
This is a family blog, and the x rated evidence PG could supply (re: is he Jewish?) is not conclusive in the modern USA. Readers will just have to take his word that he is a recovering baptist. In addition, he had never heard of the tetragrammaton. (Zach, the blog owner, used the phrase “decalogue of Exodus 20” to refer to the Ten Commandments.)
The T-ton is four letters which represent the G-d of Israel. The four letters are YHWH. This is not a song by the Village People. It’s pronunciation is disputed, and some say it should not be spoken aloud anyway. Many say it is Yahwah, which sounds really cool with a southern accent. Yahwah come back now, heah.
At some point, YHWH degenerated into Jehovah and G-d. The third commandment prohibits the improper use of sacred names, but that doesn’t stop very many people. The internet is not inhibited either, and a website for the T-ton is in operation.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.

May 6 is a day in spring, with 35% of the year gone by. It has it’s fair share of history, some of which did not turn out well. In 1861, the Confederate Congress declared war on the United States. In 1937, a German zeppelin named “Hindenburg” exploded while trying to land in New Jersey. In 1940, Bob Hope did his first show for the USO, somewhere in California.
In non metric news, in 1954 Roger Bannister ran the first sub four minute mile. The current record is 3:43.13 by Hicham El Guerrouj on July 7, 1999, with a party with Prince to celebrate. Since most track meets now use 1500 meters, the mile record is more or less obsolete.
On this day, Georgia has strapped two notable prisoners onto the gurney of no return. In 2003, Carl Isaacs was put to death. Mr. Isaacs was the ringleader in the Alday family killing, in Donalsonville GA, 1973. Five years later, in 2008, William Earl Lynd was poisoned by the state. This was the first execution, in Georgia or the USA, after the Supreme Court ruled that execution by poisoning was constitutional.
According to Wikipedia, which is never wrong, several notables were born on May 6. Included are: 1758 – Maximilien Robespierre//1856 – Sigmund Freud//1895 – Rudolph Valentino//1903 – Toots Shor//1915 – Orson Welles//1924 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford//1931 – Willie Mays//1937 – Rubin Carter//1945 – Bob Seger//1953 – Tony Blair//1954 – PG//1961 – George Clooney.
To make room for these folks, someone has to die. For May 6 this would mean: 1862 – Henry David Thoreau//1919 – L. Frank Baum//1992 – Marlene Dietrich.

Today is the National Day for Prayer. PG has this edited repost to offer:

Good Morning G-d. Please give me the slack I need to make it through this busy life. I have a birthday today, and am getting older. Please give me less pain, both above and below the neck. Thank you for letting me get this far. Thank you for the gift of sobriety, and the memory of inebrience. The gift of moderation would have been appreciated. Help me to overcome body chemistry telling me to be unhappy. If this doesn’t work, help me hide it better.
Please tell the Jesus Worshipers to shut up. They make too much noise. Help me to forgive them. Give Jesus Worshipers a bit more humility. Help Jesus Worshipers to get over their confusion, and quit hating gay people. Let people know that G-d does not write books. Let men know that A REAL MAN KEEPS CONTROL OF HIS TEMPER. Please tell the proud people praying today that it is better to listen than to talk.
Please find a happy medium for Atlanta water. Let us have neither drought nor flood. It would help if the developers would move to North Carolina, and the politicians would grow a conscience. This may be asking too much.
G-d, Please try to get along better with Allah. This is important. Maybe if you and her got along better, then all those religious crazies would hate each other less. Help white people and black people get along better. Please be good to the people who have already lived, and are now deceased. Please understand that I am not in a hurry to join them.
Help Mr. Obama with the mess this country is in. Help Israel get along with her neighbors, and live within her borders. Help the world solve the carbon dioxide problem.
Thank you for the birds that sing. I will listen to them, and not an electronic device. Thank you for dogs, and dog owners who clean up. Thank you for earth, air, fire, and water. Thank you for the people who enjoy this prayer. Help those who are offended to get over it. Namaste, amen, all my relations, Good Bye.

PG thought he was in for a low key evening of photo editing and bloggingheads. Little did he know that he would have to stop the diavlog after 41 minutes to write an angry comment. He should have known, even free entertainment has a price.
The squawking heads were Glenn Greenwald and David Frum. The affair was a technical disaster. Mr. Greenwald had the microphone about a foot away from his mouth, and you had to turn the volume way up to hear him. The problem there was, Mr. Frum was speaking at a normal volume, and when it was his turn you had to turn the volume back down. To compensate for this, Mr. Frum spent the first part of the debate in a room with low lights, and then moved to another room while the discussion took place, with the camera shaking and somebody’s dog barking. It makes one long for the black and white days of goodnight david and goodnight chet.
A few days ago this blog published a discussion about the pedantic phrase epistemic closure. The response here was rather typical…while the normal commenters about EC talk about conservatives, the talkers tonight are squealing that liberals do it too. This line of twowrongsmakearight thinking pulled PG’s chain in a few minutes, but at first it was what was expected. Mr. Frum had an amusing comment about EC at 22:33 “I used to like the term until my logician friends explained to me that it doesn’t mean what everybody thinks it means. …..I will only use it one more time, at the risk of sounding like an idiot. “
The chat wandered over to the war on terror, and the erosion of civil liberties in America. At 38:45, Mr. Frum suggests that BHO is epistemically open. Then, at roughly the 41:00 mark, Mr. Greenwald suggests that liberals owe GWB an apology. He said that BHO is violating many of the same liberties as GWB, but is criticized much less. Mr. Greenwald used the phrase “your president”. This made PG put the diavlog on hold, minimize the pictures he was editing, and send this comment to Bloggingheads.
At the 41:00 mark, Mr. Greenwald starts to talk about how BHO is continuing some of the more abhorrent policies of GWB. He makes the comment that “the left” owes GWB an apology…they trashed him for being a war criminal, but don’t say anything when “your president” does the same thing. Yes he did use the phrase “your president”.
Excuse me sir, but he is your president just as much as he is mine. One of the concerns I had about BHO was that he would take the erosion of civil liberties of the GWB regime, and take them to new depths. As soon as there was a fig leaf terror incident, then we would lose that many more rights.
This diavlog (spell check suggestion: diagnose) is a technical nightmare. Mr. Greenwald needs top volume to be heard, and then Mr. Frum blasts you back when he speaks again. This is a serious problem.
I wrote a feature…”[URL=”https://chamblee54.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/epistemic-closure-for-dummies/”%5DEpistemic closure for dummies[/URL]”…at Chamblee54 a few days ago. It was amusing to hear Mr. Frum admit that BHO was epistemically open. The rushnazi crowd might not like it though.
Tonight’s photo editing is pictures of African Americans from 1899, taken for an exhibition in Paris. When I post about this diavlog…assuming I don’t shoot the volume control… I will post a link.
The conversation went on for another twenty minutes or so. There were ups and downs, on the volume knob and elsewhere. The last thing Mr. Frum said was “We have hit the fundamental epistemic divide”
Pictures for this episode are from The Library of Congress. The story goes that: “The Paris Exposition of 1900 included a display devoted to the history and “present conditions” of African Americans. W.E.B. Du Bois and special agent Thomas J. Calloway spearheaded the planning, collection and installation of the exhibit materials, which included 500 photographs.”

This is Wednesday, the day before my birthday/national day of prayer. We are cleaning out the files here, and have two more reposts about prayer. There is one more for tomorrow, and which point we will get some original writing.
Prayer is not always a good idea.
That is up there with G-d and Motherhood, but somebody has to say it.
Many of my objections are in the phrase, ” Prayer is talking to G-d, and Meditation is Listening.”.
In our culture, we love to talk and don’t have time to listen. Talking is yang, active, power. Listening is yin, receptive, passive, and indicates respect for the person you are paying attention to. This is difficult for many.
No one ever says ” I am going to meditate for you”. Maybe you should.
Prayer is used as an aggressive weapon. “I am going to pray for you” is the condescending conclusion of many a religious argument. I have had it shouted at me like a curse.
There is 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. Here is the story, with some more cool pictures.
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…We are all G-d’s children)
When someone is in a bad way, people want to think they can help. Arguably it does not hurt to pray for someone, but it is nothing to boast about.
One 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 obsessed with converting others, you should care what man thinks. .

There is a saying, “For G-d’s sake”. The usual meaning is that something is really important. An example would be “you need to replace that balding tire, for G-d’s sake”.
There is another meaning which comes to mind after the inauguration. We need…really really need…to get religion out of politics. For G-d’s sake.
Three ministers were prominently featured in the inauguration. Gene Robinson was seen by some as an olive branch to Gays and Lesbians offended by the antics of minister number two ( pun intended). The selection led to a few gratuitous anti gay comments. Then, when it was show time, his prayer was not a part of the telecast. Hmmm.
Minister number two is Rick Warren. Widely seen as an egomaniac and a hatemonger, his selection was praised by some as “building bridges”. He made a prayer that seemed to please few. It should be noted at this point that this reporter did not see the proceedings, but is going from the abundant internet coverage.
And what does all of this say about G-d? To use prayer from a hatemonger for “building bridges”. Separation of church and state is a good deal for the church. When you use prayer as a decoration in a ceremony, it loses any meaning.
The last of the three ministers was Joseph Lowery. He quoted a rhyme about different colors of people. Some were pleased by this, and others were offended. Here again, what does all of this say about G-d?
In the last few years, religion has been exploited by the right wing politicians. Being a Christian is somehow supposed to make you a conservative. The semantics and Bible justification for all this is rather tiresome to this reporter.
A recent example is a internet thing called “Pray Obama Fails”. (HT to JoemyG-d).What this person does not understand is that if Obama Fails, all of us fail. It is like the war in babylon…many of us were opposed to it, but if our armies lose, then we all lose. The person who prays for Obama to fail is praying for America to fail. And what sort of G-d do you direct a prayer like that to?
Maybe it is time to get prayer for entertainment out of the public arena. For G-d’s sake.

Sometimes people pray for entertainment, and the wrong person hears them. PG was once this person, and it changed the way he sees religion.
It seems that Jesus was not fond of prayer for entertainment. Not that it really matters…Jesus worshipers are more excited about his death than his life. As for the quotes in the Bible, they were written years after they were spoken, and translated at least twice before they get to us. That said, there is a passage in Matthew that is instructive.
5And when thou prayest,(spell check suggestion: grayest, prankster) thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
9After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. …
This is followed by what is known as the Lord’s prayer. It bears little resemblance to the prayer that caused PG so much suffering.
It was January 1999, not the party Prince predicted. PG had lost his mother December 18, 1998, and was mourning. One day, while at work, he went to the bathroom. As he was washing his hands, PG thought of the love his mother had for him, and how much he was going to miss her. PG became very sad.
There was a radio, on a table by the door to the bathroom. The radio belonged to a Professional Jesus Worshiper, and it was tuned to a Christian radio station. PJW (spell check suggestions: pew, paw, pow, PJ’s) was somewhere else, not listening to his speaker radio.
In addition to the speaker radio, PJW had a second sound device, that led into his ear with an earplug. This was all while he was on the clock, playing a speaker radio and listening to an earplug.
PG left the bathroom, feeling the pain of losing his mother. A lady was PRAYING FOR ENTERTAINMENT on the radio. The speaker said “The blood of the lamb has cleansed my heart”.
Something inside PG fell apart when he heard that lady. While PG had heard about the Christian symbols plenty of times, this was one time too many to be hearing about bleeding lambs. Gross. This was poison to his soul.
PG ran into the back of the building, and shouted “I hate Christian Radio”. A supervisor went to talk to PJW, who turned off his speaker radio.
The next day, PJW turned his speaker radio back on. He did not say anything to PG.
Three weeks later, and PJW played his speaker radio every day. PG could hear it from his work station, a nasty low level noise, all day, every day. The one difference was at 11:30 every morning, when a preacher came on, and shouted the entire time he was on the air. It made PG sick to his stomach, to have that old man yelling at him because of Jesus. When the videos of Jeremiah Wright came out years later, PG immediately recognized the style of verbally abusing the audience, for Jesus.
Finally, one day PG knew he must confront the bully, and ask him to turn one of his radios off. When PG asked PJW to turn his radio off, the preacher went ballistic. He ranted, quoted the Bible, invoked the names of Jesus and G-d, and made a total fool out of Jesus. All because a co worker, his peer, asked him to turn off one of his two radios.
PJW preached hatred against PG to anyone who would listen. Many of the “Good Christians” agreed with him, that PG needed to be punished for the unforgivable sin of asking PJW to turn down one of his radios. The company management was afraid of a lawsuit, and left PG on his own. The hatred, back stabbing, and bad mouthing continued for the next six years, until PG was laid off. This was all because PG heard a woman praying for entertainment.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress