Chamblee54

This is unpaid publicity weekend here at Chamblee54. Our media product of the moment is Kayne West. The following “rap” is courtesy of Andrew Sullivan. 

“SOUTH PARK MURDERED ME LAST NIGHT AND IT’S PRETTY FUNNY. IT HURTS MY FEELINGS BUT WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM SOUTH PARK! I ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY EGO THOUGH. HAVING THE CRAZY EGO IS PLAYED OUT AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE AND CAREER. I USE TO USE IT TO BUILD UP MY ESTEEM WHEN NOBODY BELIEVED IN ME. NOW THAT PEOPLE DO BELIEVE AND SUPPORT MY MUSIC AND PRODUCTS THE BEST RESPONSE IS THANK YOU INSTEAD OF “I TOLD YOU SO!!!” IT’S COOL TO TALK S*** WHEN YOU’RE RAPPING BUT NOT IN REAL LIFE. WHEN YOU MEET LITTLE WAYNE IN PERSON HE’S THE NICEST GUY FOR EXAMPLE. I JUST WANNA BE A DOPER PERSON WHICH STARTS WITH ME NOT ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE HOW DOPE I THINK I AM. I NEED TO JUST GET PAST MYSELF. DROP THE BRAVADO AND JUST MAKE DOPE PRODUCT. EVERYTHING IS NOT THAT SERIOUS. AS LONG AS PEOPLE THINK I ACT LIKE A BITCH THIS TYPE OF S*** WILL HAPPEN TO ME. I GOT A LONG ROAD AHEAD OF ME TO MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE I’M NOT ACTUALLY A HUGE DOUCHE BUT I’M UP FOR THE CHALLENGE. I’M SURE THE WRITERS AT SOUTH PARK ARE REALLY NICE PEOPLE IN REAL LIFE. THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO DRAW MY CREW. THAT WAS PRETTY FUNNY ALSO!! I’M SURE THERE’S GRAMMATICAL ERRORS IN THIS… THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW IT’S ME!”

In February 1999, PG was eating lunch at the Piccadilly cafeteria and reading the Wall Street Journal. (Party like its 1999). There was a story about George W. Bush, who was touted as a Presidential Candidate in the next election. The story was about his alleged fondness for cocaine. As the WSJ told it, he was high on coke at his daddy’s inauguration in 1989.
The Wall Street Journal is as Phylis Schafly’s stockbroker. Why would they publish a story like this, about the apparent darling of the GOP inner circle? Maybe, they wanted to get those nasty rumors out there, where they would be forgotten old news by election time. The strategy seemed to work…W’s one time fondness for white lines was a non issue throughout his administration.
Now, the story is the white trash antics of Sarah Palin and her extended family. Big Hair Alert!
While moralists and hypocrisy scorekeepers may tut tut about this TMI parade, most of America is not troubled. No publicity is bad publicity, and Palin is an easy name to spell. Caribou Barbie has the highest profile of any candidate going into the next election, and would be the nominee if the convention were tomorrow.
You can wallow in this family values quagmire for days. There is a campaign ad, when Mrs. Palin was running for Governor. She promises to “Deliver the best to Alaskans NOW not later”. Within two years, she did.

It’s time for celebrity feud again.
Ethan Hawke wrote an article for Rolling Stone. The story is that an unnamed Country singer was told off by Kris Kristofferson. The incident was backstage at a 70th birthday party for Willie Nelson. As the AP tells the tale:
“In the story, Hawke claimed he witnessed the confrontation backstage at Nelson’s tribute concert for his 70th birthday at the Beacon Theater in New York. The article does not name Keith but says it was a country singer who “had a monster hit about bombing America’s enemies back into the stone age.” In 2002, Keith had the song “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)” that threatened retribution for the 9/11 attacks.
Hawke said the argument began with the “Star” telling Kristofferson: “None of that lefty (expletive) out there tonight, Kris.” Hawke said Kristofferson then angrily confronted him, and asked  if he had ever served in the military.
“Have you ever killed another man? Huh? Have you ever taken another man’s life and then cashed the check your country gave you for doing it? No, you have not, so shut the (expletive) up,You don’t know what the hell you are talking about.”
Now, this reporter was not backstage at a concert in 2003, and has never met any of the players. Kristofferson does not recall the incident. A quick visit to wikipedia will tell you that Toby Keith has not served in the military.
Mr. Kristofferson was in the Army, but evidently was not in combat. Making “Heavens Gate” and dating Barbra Streisand does not count.
There are a lot of “chicken hawks” these days. War is fine and dandy, as long as someone else does the killing. (BTW, Mr. Keith has been quoted as opposing the war in Babylon).
Mr. Keith went off on a journalist who wrote about the article, in a very public and profane way. In doing so, he both confirms that he is the unnamed musician, and that the story is true.

PG can only take so much.
He tuned in the Tyra show today. The spectacle of the Johnston family ( Tyra forget to say the T) was tough to resist.
Levi needed a shave, and may have been recovering from a rough night. We knew he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. The word has been that he is an apprentice electrician on Alaska’s north slope, which is not conducive to hands on fathering. He seems to have taken an extended paternity/splitup break.
His mother and sister appeared alongside. Mom almost cried when she said how much the baby meant to her. It is tough not to feel sympathy for them in their battle with the Palin empire.
Tyra was in good form. She leaned over and touched Levi’s knee while asking him if he used protection. It was a magic moment when Levi agreed that he didn’t practice safe sex EVERY time, mom and sis and the crowd roared, and Tyra cut away for a commercial.
Tyra made a round-of-applause point of not paying the Johnston’s to appear on her show. The question does arise of who paid their expenses for the trip to the studio from Alaska.
PG cut the tube off when some other himbo appeared on the couch, and went on about his day.
Later, PG found a video of Chris Brown on the Tyra couch. The hair of Miss Banks was a few shades darker in this episode. Mr. Brown discusses his difficult childhood. It seems like his stepdad beat his mother, and he was afraid to get out of bed. He became a bedwetter.
Tyra asked him how he got through all of this. “ I prayed a lot. I kept a bible under my pillow“. The studio audience cheers. PG screams GROSS and does not finish the video.

Carl Hiassen takes timeout from writing novels about weirdos to produce a column for the Miami Herald. It comes out on Sunday, and lately has been every other week. He usually makes more sense than many can handle.
This week the subject is a proposed cigarette tax. Some grinches want a dollar a pack state tax added onto cigarettes. The tax would raise revenue, and hopefully some folks will quit the vile habit.
However, there is opposition. A legislator is looking out for the convenience store owners, who stand to lose a bundle if fewer people buy cancer sticks.
PG has smoked roughly two cigarettes in his life. That is, by his own choice. The second hand smoke adds up. There is also the “it’s legal” sense of entitlement that the tobacconists are well known for. PG has an answer to the matter of how much cigarette tax to assess.
Cigarettes should be taxed so that a pack of cigarettes costs as much as an ounce of marijuana.
Ciggies will still be legal. You will not have to be them from criminals, who will turn you on to “hard drugs”. You will not lose your job if you fail a urine test. Your house cannot be confiscated for possession.The cancer sticks would still be legal, but with a reasonable tax.

Andrew Sullivan links to some quotes by Mahmoud Ahmedinejad about Israel. While he is no friend of the Zionist government, he does not seem eager to drop a nuclear weapon on Palestine. A key quote:
December, 2006: “I want to tell [Western counties] that just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and does not exist anymore, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out and humanity will be free.
Yes, the political entity known as the Soviet Union is history. In its place are the individual republics, which are going in different directions. The quotes from Mr. Ahmadinejad (in Farsi) can be interpreted to either mean destruction of the land and people, or the demise of the government. If he is going to follow the Soviet model, then he would kill the government, and let the people live.
Any nuclear attack in a crowded area is going to have lots of collateral damage. If Israel was to nuke the Gaza Strip, the fallout and radiation would kill a lot of Israelis. Likewise, if Iran was to nuke Israel, the radiation would kill many more Arabs than Jews. This in is addition to attracting an Israeli strike on Persia in retaliation.
Iran, to quote Israel, is living in a bad neighborhood. To the right is unstable, nuclear armed Pakistan. To the left is Iraq, which killed hundreds of thousands of Persians in a war recently. Nuclear armed Israel is in striking distance, and seems to be spoiling for a fight.
An invasion of Iran would be a disaster for the world economy. While Iran getting the bomb would not be a positive development, one must wonder whether an invasion would be worth the price.

“Vampyres of Hollywood” goes back to the library today. It seems to be a popular title, so it will not rest for long.
Vampyres and Hollywood are two rich sources of legend. Neither is what they seem to be and the cliches never stop. This book is 325 pages of name dropping, conspicuous consumption, and name brand marketing. The legends of Hollywood live today, and let you know enough to sell the next product. We suspect they are real, but what to make of the vampyres?
VOH has a clever way to tell its tale. The two story tellers are Ovsanna Moore and Peter King. One is a vampyre, one is a policeman. They alternate chapters, each advancing the story a bit. Each has a limited point of view. Do they mess around? Why would you want a spoiler this soon?
One Amazon reviewer said this was poorly written, and the name dropping was tiresome. PG is not an english teacher, and only cares about being entertained. The celebrities are part of the adventure, as is the abundance of high priced toys and fashions. The police parts added to the fun…and law enforcement is up there with vampyres and hollywood as a source of legend. And a profit center for the entertainment industry. It is like the ouroboros, the legendary critter that keeps eating its tail and getting bigger.
Hollywood thrives on creating legends, which are often just a flat picture with a wooden frame. These legends somehow think they are real, and the public agrees. Some of these legends threaten to destroy the machine that created them out of thin air. It should surprise no one that Rudolph Valentino is mixed up in this.
Readers who enjoy a bit of gore will not be disappointed. While the ending is a bit hokey, it does tie a lot of the story together. Suspension of disbelief is another player in this arena.

This is national poetry month. HT twenty two words
Prose don’t tell the story nor the squawking of birds
PG is a prose kind of guy a tall gray haired fellow
Bill Cosby is rather mean he sells a lot of jello
abcb goes the rhyming the meter plays a tune
boardwalks  go to the beach over the bristling dune
Sarah Palin Johnny Cash Leonardo DiCaprio
Sonny Perdue Tammy Faye President BHO
Embarrassment is no excuse To not participate
The burglars tape was sideways At the watergate
Sometimes it does not work way down to the toes
One day PG might learn He should stick to prose

The surge in Iraq was more than sending additional troops. There was a press campaign in America to supply good news about the war. There were changes in the strategy. And, perhaps most important of all, there was the “Sons of Iraq”.
The SOI ( also known as the Anbar Awakening, and a few Arabic phrases) were former members of the insurgency. Offended by the brutal tactics of Al Queda, and lured by $$$, these forces allied with the Americans. They were a key factor in driving back Al Queda.
Recently, the SOI have been put on the payroll of the Iraqi government. Only a few have been accepted for the Iraq army. The payments have been late and short. And a leader of the SOI has been arrested. The SOI are fighting back. There are firefights between the US armed SOI and the US armed Iraqi army.
In the parts of the American press, we are still winning in Iraq.
HT to Andrew Sullivan and Kikoshouse.

This is a copy/paste job below. All credit and blame goes to a lovely site called jokesfunny. Jokesfunny has new material almost every day.
A grade one teacher collected well known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.

Strike while the …, insect is close.///Never underestimate the power of… ants./// Don’t bite the hand that… looks dirty.///Better to be safe than… punch a grade 7 boy./// If you lie down with dogs, you’ll… stink in the morning.///It’s always darkest before… Daylight Saving Time/// You can lead a horse to water but… how?///No news is… impossible./// A miss is as good as a… Mr.///You can’t teach an old dog new… maths./// Love all, trust… me.///The pen is mightier than the… pigs.

One of the features of the babylon war is the use of drones. These are unmanned airplanes, that launch missiles by remote control.
There is much to complain about in the babylon war. We invade Afghanistan to get revenge for nine eleven, and now we are stuck there. Literally trillions of dollars have been borrowed to pay for this enterprise, with more to come. And we are using unmanned planes to attack people in Pakistan.
A fabulously wealthy country is spending trillions of dollars to attack poor people eight time zones away. This wealthy country does not even put its men at risk in these attacks, but does them with unmanned aircraft.
Something is not right.

Ben Franklin famously observed “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes “. He might have added whining about taxes.
We are a couple of weeks from April 15. This is the day when many proud patriots morph into whiners. The prospect of having to pay for their wars is just too horrible to contemplate.
Down at the state capitol, there will be a “Tea Party” on April 15. Famous radio whiner Sean Hannity will be there. Yes, we are going to fight Islam eight time zones away, and pay for it with tax cuts.
Carl Hiassen has a think piece in today’s Miami Herald. While not happy about paying more in taxes, he would prefer to pay himself before shifting the burden to his mother.
Mr. Franklin earned his fame as a publisher and author. He had a few more things to say about death war and taxes.
Creditors have better memories than debtors… Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security…A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges…All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones…An investment in knowledge pays the best interest…Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
When you google the phrase “death and taxes”, the top choice is a video game site.