Chamblee54

Today is veterans day. Formerly known as armistice day, this was the end of the first world war. That was ninety years ago. Only a handful of veterans from that conflict are still around.The last living American-born veteran is 107-year-old Frank Woodruff Buckles of Charles Town, W.Va. On the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the fighting would cease. If you got killed on the tenth minute, too bad.
Today, it is called Veterans Day. The idea is to honor the Men and Women who have served.
PG is not a veteran. He came of age in the Vietnam Era. There is a post at his old blog which tells the story. The bottom line is, by the time PG was old enough to join, the War in Vietnam was essentially over. Our government was trying to get a fig leaf peace treaty, so we could get our troops out. Mr. Nixon called it Peace with Honor, when it turned out to be anything but.
America is at war today. The war in Babylon has been out of the spotlight lately. Neither side in the election saw advantage in talking about it. The official line is that we are winning, and there does seem to be a certain amount of progress. However, when discussing war, a b.s. detector is a handy tool. PG has opposed this war from the beginning, and does not see much good coming out of it. However, how does that relate to the individual soldiers?
Last week at the bloggers night out, PG met Muskrat. He didn’t make a big deal about it that night, but the man has been to Iraq. When it is a person you have met, war takes on a different meaning. Today, at his blog, Muskrat talked about some of the kindness that he has been shown after his deployment. PG commented “Even…or maybe especially…those who are opposed to the war should thank the men and women who have served.”
Opposition to the war has been the target of many right wing types. Many say that opponents of the war are hoping for American defeat. ( “They have the ribbons and balloons already ordered for the defeat party.” The hideous Mark Steyn said that on the Michael Medved show). The fact is that a defeat in Iraq is a defeat for all of us. While many of us had these concerns before the war…and many of us expressed them… the fact is that we are there, and we need to make the best of the situation. Whether BHO is smart enough to do this is a good question. Like participation in the war, the presidency of BHO is now a done deal. The patriotic thing is to pull together, and try to make something good come out of this.
Osama Bin Ladin has been quoted as saying the he will defeat the United States the same way he defeated the Soviet Union. This is to say, he will prolong the conflict, and bankrupt the great power that is fighting him. Al Queda does not have to win battles to do this. All Al Queda has to do is stir up enough trouble so that America cannot leave. The longer we are in Iraq, the more damage we do to our economy. It is already happening. ( PG is not able to find a link to show that Mr. Bin Ladin said this. This may prove to be a fabrication. However, it is not far from the truth.If Bin Ladin did not say it, then he should have.)
The Men and Women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan have performed a difficult task with honor and courage. The why and how of this conflict is out of their hands. The fact is, they have been given a job, and they have done it. They deserve the Thanks of America.

The comparison  PG makes is to 1932.The nation was in economic tumult. The repubs had been in power too long, and were ready for a vacation. Franklin Roosevelt was the man chosen to lead America. FDR was crippled, and he smoked cigarettes. The cigarette holder was one of his trademarks. The public was well aware of the cigarette holder, but was clueless about the leg braces. Such were the times…smoking was profitable to the advertisers, but polio was not talked about.
At a point in the fifties, a vaccine for polio was discovered. The disease became something for the medical textbooks, instead of a horror for families. At roughly the same time…very roughly… reports started to come out about the health hazards of smoking. Bit by bit, smoking came to be seen as a bad thing. The print media paid lip service to this, while accepting advertising from the tobacco mongers.
By the time BHO became a national figure, politicians were careful not to be photographed smoking. The tobacco habit of BHO was whispered about, but the visual confirmation will not be seen. Not even the scandal magazines have pictures of BHO lighting up. And yes, BHO plays basketball, and is not remotely crippled. If he hobbled on a cane, while wearing braces, the media would have been all over it. Is this right or wrong, or just different?
There are lots of postmortems today, and PG might as well join the fun. He is not overjoyed at the election of BHO. The man has a lot of flaws. PG questions his commitment to the basic constitutional rights. Mr.Bush has done damage to many of our rights in his “War on Terror”. PG is concerned that BHO is going to use this opening to create a police state.
BHO faces a lot of challenges. PG remembers the reception given Bill Clinton in 1993. The wingnut media fought him tooth and nail for eight years. Finally, in his second term, they caught Slick Willie in an improper situation. America wasted a year trying to impeach the President. None of this fighting helped to achieve energy independence. This business of buying oil from hostile foreign powers is at the root of the tumult in the middle east, and today’s financial crisis. America has known this was a problem since Richard Nixon was President. The media spent more time fussing about Bill Clinton’s zipper problem.
PG has two hopes for the new administration. One is that the opposition maintains the watchdog status, but gives BHO the chance to perform. This simply did not happen with Bill Clinton. The second is that BHO doesn’t get caught in any scandal, but remains focused on solving the problems of this age.
It might help if BHO were to quit smoking.

I got up at six am, and wondered whatever possessed me. At the early voting place, the line was over one hundred feet long. The process went fairly smoothly, and I got out at 7:42. On the way home, I had a sense of relief…the political season was over. There was a feeling of disgust when I saw a yard sign, but soon they will be in the landfill. The rotting food will be offended.
Then I saw this. It seems like my representative, Jill Chambers, is accusing Chris Huttman of dragging the deceased mother, of Mrs. Chambers, into the race. At first I was outraged. I lost my mother to cancer, and know how horrible that was. Then I looked at the mailer in question, and read the comment by Chris Huttman.
It seems like Mrs. Chambers attended a fund raiser, and took money from people. Soon afterward, she introduced legislation that would benefit these people. At the time, she cited the experience of her mother as a reason for her interest. Which is exactly what the mailer said…. “she justified it by pointing to her own mother’s illness”. The legislation in question involves something called a certificate of need, and is a bit tough to understand. In her email to Peach Pundit, she said “In 2007, I introduced two pieces of legislation to help Georgia patients have access to the best care they could find – one bill would allow specialty cancer treatment centers to open in Georgia; the other bill would require all hospitals to publically disclose their infection rates.”
This fundraiser that preceded this legislation is the subject of controversy. A man filed an ethics complaint about it, and Mrs. Chambers has fought back. Mrs. Chambers made an uninvited visit to the man’s residence, and made a spectacle of herself. Mrs. Chambers recently sent out a mailer about this complaint. In it, the address and phone number of the complainer are published.

The Troy Davis saga continues.
The last time I wrote about this matter, I called him Tony Davis. After a review of my sources for that feature, I saw that the only one to call him Tony was some Yankee newspaper. When you are in the public eye, you lose control about what people call you. At the very least, lets not call him by all three names. That seems to be a perp tradition.
Troy Davis has yet another stay of execution. That should make the celebrities happy, at least until they get to the next cause of the day. There is a fear of mob rule in such things, with the specter of the lynch mob in mind. This would seem to be the opposite…where the celebrities,the EU, and the well meaning domestics demanding that the execution be canceled. Is the mob really a good judge of guilt or innocence?
There seems to be a bit of doubt on this case. We all know about the seven witnesses who said they didn’t mean it, and the lack of physical evidence. There is also the rigorous review that capital punishment requires, and the fact that several courts have refused to intervene. Many observers of the case are convinced that Mr. Davis is indeed the culprit. Where is King Solomon when you really need him?
This case is not going to change my mind about capital punishment. My take is that capital punishment is strong medicine, and that our justice system is not smart enough. Yes, people who kill police are worthy of execution, as are many other criminals. There are also people who are better served by a long prison sentence. Is our justice system fair enough, wise enough,and efficient enough to know the difference?
There is one more semantic issue here, to go along with using all three names for perps. What verb do we use for death by lethal injection? DBLI has an antiseptic sound, which does not fit this little bit of state sponsored homicide. The firing squad shoots, the hangman hangs, and the electric chair fries. Those verbs bring home the reality of bureaucrat sponsored offing more vividly than death by lethal injection. I propose POISON. The state of Georgia will have to wait to see if it gets to POISON Troy Davis.

In a couple of weeks, the election will be, blessedly, over. The only thing that could screw up…north of Florida…is a Georgia race where no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote. In 1992, the incumbent Senator was an Atlanta Baseball fan named Wyche Fowler. He was confident of victory, but many were dissatisfied with his performance. The Libertarian candidate, Jim Hudson, got enough votes to force a runoff. In the runoff, Repub Paul Coverdell won election. Mr. Fowler was consoled by the job of Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. A few months after he left that position, 15 Saudi nationals flew planes into American buildings.
This story does have a moral. If you want Saxby Chambliss to spend more time with his family, then vote for Democrat Jim Martin. While the Libertarian movement might be a good idea, this is not the time to push it.
Saxby Chambliss is a vile man who needs to retire. His issues and shortcomings are well documented elsewhere. In addition, he has a funny first name.
The rest of this feature is a personal story about Mr. Saxby. As it became obvious that we were going to invade Babylon, I decided to go on record as being opposed. I felt we were starting something we were not going to be able to finish, that we could not afford, and was based on shaky premises. Once the fighting started I would support the troops, but before the “shock and awe” was distributed, I would speak my mind. The email/letter went to My House of Representatives lady, and the two senators.
The house lady at the time was Denise Majette. She had defeated Cynthia McKinney the previous fall. Ms. Majette sent a long and thoughtful reply. While she did not explicitly say so, I got the sense that she was opposed to the invasion. However, due to some votes cast in the previous congress, there was little that could be done to stop the war.
Of the two Senators, I never did hear from Zell “ZigZag” Miller. My letter mentioned that “You were elected to represent me”. Mr. Miller was appointed by the Governor to finish the term of Paul Coverdell, who died. Mr. Coverdell was a Republican. The Governor and Mr. Miller were Democrats. Mr. Miller has since decided that the Democratic Party is too liberal for his taste. ZigZag is lower than a snakes belly.
Mr. Chambliss did send a reply to my letter. It was a few months after “Mission Accomplished”. Mr. Chambliss praised the war. He made no mention of my objections to the war, which were still valid in those early days of the insurgence. I wonder if his staff even read my letter.
Saxby Chambliss needs to retire. Some lobbying firm will give him a nice job, and the taxpayers will only indirectly pay for it.
Thanks to Wikipedia for help in fact checking this feature.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Wyche- Wycherly, psyche, chewy
Majette- Majorette, Majesty
Zell- Sell, tell, cell, hell, hell, bell, fell, well, nell
Wikipedia- pediatric, cyclopedia, stipendiary, impedimenta

It is amazing what gets your attention when you should be looking for a job. The yahoo page had a link to a poll of the “49 most influential men of 2008”. Polls like this are usually rubbish, but there is a post to be written. This is a good excuse to put some pictures up.
I don’t have the patience for all 49. This is one of those deals where you have to click on a link for every name on the list. That is a lot of work, especially for men I have never heard of. I seldom watch TV or pay full price for movies, so a lot of celebrities go under the radar. It will be fun to see how many I have heard of. There is a profile about each man, but that is another click, and wait for the popupdropdown ad to clear. This is going to be a lot of work just to get to the top ten.
If you can’t say anything good about someone, don’t say anything at all.
1- Barack Obama… Hype is color blind.
2- Steve Jobs
3- Micheal Phelps
4- Robert Downey, Jr…Rehab does work sometimes.
5- Stephen Colbert
6- Gordon Ramsey…This is the first one I totally don’t know. Mr. Ramsey is wearing a chef’s outfit, which is a clue.
7- Christian Bale
8- Rob Kay…Mr. Kay designs video games. If you see Mr. Kay…
9- Cristiano Ronaldo…Mr. Ronaldo kicks soccer balls. and has an irish cousin named Ronald O’McDonald.
10- John McCain…Bless his heart.
11-Lorne Michaels….Mr. Michaels gets points for staying alive this long.
12-Tom Ford… Mr. Ford is a fashion designer. No word on what kind of car he drives, or whether he pardoned Mr. Nixon.
13-Mark Zuckerberg…Mr. Zuckerman invented Facebook, and is glad this list is not in alphabetical order.
14-Dana White… Mr. White fronts something called “Ultimate Fighting Challenge. One more I have heard of and I quit. It doesn’t matter if I have seen his show.
15-Jon Stewart…Mr. Stewart is a comedian/polical commenter.

There is a blog called Dougsploitation, whose slogan is “Putting the Pop back in Pop Culture”. He recently became (in)famous as the person who introduced Sonseed, and their Poly-retro hit ” Jesus is a Friend of Mine”. If you haven’t seen it yet…Google was invented for emergencies like that.
Doug announced two celebrity deaths last week. I was going to comment, but I decided to wait until the third one happened. Until yesterday, when Mr. Blackwell went to that fitting room in the sky.
Born Richard Sylvan Seltzer, Mr. Blackwell made a name for himself as a designer. According to wikipedia, “He was an important designer and during the 1960s he became the first in history to present his line on a television broadcast; and the first to make his line available for plus-size women.” Later, he published an annual list of “The ten worst dressed Women”, and became a household name. He wrote two books, Mr. Blackwell: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos and From Rags to Bitches.
The second of the recently deceased was not as famous as the other two, but made his mark on our culture. Neal Hefti ( that was his birth name) was primarily an arranger for jazz big bands. He did a lot of work with Count Basie. He wrote something that few who grew up in the sixties have forgotten…the theme to “Batman”. He also did the score for “The Odd Couple”, which was recycled for the TV show.
Edith Elizabeth Enke got her break in 1950, when she won a beauty pageant, and got a spot on the Milton Berle show. She was on many TV shows after that, and married Ernie Kovacs. Mr. Kovacs was a cigar smoker, and his wife, now known as Edie Adams, did a series of commercials for Muriel Cigars. One featured the closing line, “Why don’t you pick one up and, smoke it sometime”.
Ernie Kovacs died in an Auto Accident in 1962. In a tragic coincidence, his daughter with Edie Adams, Mia Kovacs, died in an auto accident in 1982. Edie Adams made numerous appearances in TV and films, and was a cast member of As the World Turns. Edie Adams passed away on October 15, from Cancer and pneumonia.

There is a video going around of JSM on the David Letterman show. At the 2 minute mark, JSM gets to talking about that rascal Bill Ayers. Not only did he wish he had planted more bombs, but he said it on September 11, 2001. PG heard the ding ding ding of the BS detector.
It turns out the Weatherman dude put a book out in 2001. (An unrelated group called the Weather Girls had a hit song, “It’s Raining Men”. No word on whether this was about the aftermath of a bombing.) Mr. Ayers was flogging the book, and gave an interview to the New York Times. In a eerie stroke, the review was published on September 11,2001. That was supposed to be a slow news day, and ordinarily would have been a good day for book promotion. Now, Mr. Ayers may have made the comment that he should have bombed more, or gotten bombed more, on nine eleven. Or he may not have. The point is, the story that JSM quotes was published on that day, and the interview it was based on was made before that. JSM is playing fast and loose with the facts.
Someone is impressed by the Ayers business. A robocall from the JSM campaign is going out as we speak, that reminds voters that BHO was buddies with a domestic terrorist. ( HT to JoemyG-d) (The phone number at the end of the call is 202 863 8500) Maybe they all went riding in Larry Sinclair’s limousine, did a few lines, and went to Denny’s for the Grand Slam. Or maybe not.
On the way to posting a feature, one goes through the wordpress home page. There are featured blogs there. One of these has the transcript of the appearance by JSM on David Letterman. There is a lot that did not make the video, that is in the transcript.
The poster at the end of this feature is from Motivated Photos.

Spell check suggestions for this feature:
robocall – aerobically, focally, rockfall, erotically, heroically

According to the email Uzi forwarded, it is National Disturbed People Day. Was this planned before last night’s debate? Was that red man or beech nut that was in JSM’s cheek last night? Has anyone talked to Senator Government today?
Sending 160 thousand troops to a country eight time zones away is big government. And what is going to happen when the Iraqis we are paying get introduced to the Layoff? Will Iraq be stabilized then? Stay tuned folks.
On the domestic front, the execution of Troy Davis is scheduled for October 27. This is eight days before BHO can finish his waffle. Peach Pundit has not announced the details of their celebration. Perhaps the murder weapon can be found before then. Is there a hidden story, that the celebrities do not know about, that conclusively shows Mr. Davis to be guilty? If so, then this should be shown to the celebrities, and the public. When you execute an innocent man for murder, the real killer walks free.
Back to the real fun. There was an ad at the bottom of the NDPD message. I have included it in today’s recreation as an ironic postscript. I did add a comment of my own to the motivational message. When you have a good time, never bring yourself down by worrying about who may be hurt. They should just ignore it!

Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 10:28 AM
Subject: FW: National Disturbed People Day – enjoy!

Today is International Disturbed People’s Day
You have to read the stuff at the end for your laugh!!!!!
Please send an encouraging message to a disturbed friend… just as I’ve done.
I don’t care if you lick windows,take the special bus,
or occasionally pee on yourself..
You hang in there sunshine, you’re frigging’ special
Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad,
is a full minute of happiness you’ll never get back.
Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly,Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.
Even if it makes someone else cry, never regret it, because you are the only person who matters!
Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.
Send to all the people you love and don’t want to lose in 2008, even me.If you get 3 back, you are a great friend.
McCain or Obama? Stay updated on coverage of the Presidential race while you browse – Download Now!

When Uzi called PG that Sunday morning, he had a place for them to go that afternoon. The Candler Park festival was going on in the park. PG was back from his vacation of chasing goats out of tents, and was ready to go.
After finding a legal parking spot and a brief walk, the park was pleasantly occupied with tie dyed splendor. Both PG and Uzi have a sense that they missed their calling by not living here, but not enough to give up the comforts of Sandy Springs/Chamblee. Still, it is fun to have a refuge like this.
PG ( paparazzi goober) has learned…maybe…the lesson of asking permission before taking pictures of an artist’s work. He was only turned down once, and the images that he did get were worth the effort. And a band on a stage…well, they are there for the attention.
At one point, Uzi got some chicken fingers, and PG checked out the band. The stage was at the end of a small bowl, and the audience was scattered around . Children danced with hula hoops. Couples…in all sorts of combinations… held hands in the sun. Many held drinks for small children, or showed elders around. You could compare it to a thanksgiving dinner, but the band was not a turkey.
During the inevitable tour of the booths, PG got to talking to a panorama photographer. His camera uses a 6″ wide negative, that is exposed through a slit in the camera. A motor drives the camera while it makes its sweep of the image. The prints for sale were contact prints from the negative. The man bought his camera from the estate of “Panorama Ray” after he passed on. Meanwhile, Uzi was five booths down the row and looking back. BTW, in the early sixties the channel five news show was called “Panorama”.
Before long, the booths ran out, and Uzi decided against any more festival food. After a bit of suspense over what road they were parked on, the car was found, and set course for the comforts north of Ponce de Leon.

TwentyTwoWords weighed in today with a comment about web design for dyslexics. No jokes please.
The post linked to a site called dyslexia.com. They say that dyslexia is a gift. While I would not go that far, some of their ideas are useful. The basic concept is that if something is easier for dyslexics to read, it will also be easier for non dyslexics.
This makes sense. While I don’t follow all of them, there are some good points here.
1-Keep paragraphs short, and use a medium amount of text on each page. If a long article is posted, create a topic index at the beginning, so that the dyslexic reader can quickly narrow in on the parts that interest him or her.
2-Use default font settings or provide a way for users to choose their own styles. That way, a user can choose their own preferred font with their browser, or create their own style sheet. Many dyslexics find they read best with one particular font.
3-Keep your main text left-justified. It is very hard to read paragraphs where all lines are centered or which are right-justified.
4-Use a consistent layout and format throughout the site. It helps to have navigation aids laid out consistently on every page.
5-If you use frames, be sure to provide a no-frames alternative; some text-to-speech software cannot read text on framed pages.
6- Make a list of relevant links at the end of a paragraph or section, rather than merely placing the links within the body of the text. That way the user can find the important links without needing to read all the text. Be sure to clearly describe the type of information or site the link will lead to.
7-Use medium icons to help with navigation between frequently used web pages. There should also be a text alternative for navigation (or the ‘alt’ tag should be used), for those individuals who rely on computers to read the page contents to them.
8- Never use flashing text. Do not use animated or moving graphics unless the animation is necessary to illustrate important information, such as an animation demonstrating how a machine works. Even so, it is best to place the animation on a different page, or to set it up to start only when clicked.
9-Avoid using background images behind text. Make sure that there is a good contrast between the color of the background and the color of text.
10-Do not set up background music to play, unless the site gives the user a choice whether to turn it on.

Several points ring especially true here. Short paragraphs are the way to go. A long block of text is intimidating to many readers, and screams out “skip over me”. On a more personal level, I have a tough time with quotes from the Bible. That is a subject for another post, if not a new blog.

Background music that starts without asking is a peeve of mine. This is highly unthoughtful to your visitor. If you are already listening to something, or are in a place music is inappropriate, this is going to cause problems. Flashing text and background images are also annoying, but at least they do not make noise. There is a reason I do not like MySpace.

For blocks of text, left justified is simply the way to go. While centered text may be good for ads and invitations, it is a lot of work on the eyes to follow for extended reading. And, why on earth would anyone ever use right justified?

A post like this is not complete without a hypocrite alert. I have heard people say they do not like multi colored text, that it can be difficult to read. Black text is a holdover from dead tree journalism. I probably will continue to use colors, though maybe with a bit of restraint. The rainbow posts are fun. Using colors for quotes and different themes helps the reader to tell when the subject has changed. Red letters stand out when you want to make a point.
The internet is a work in progress. People are learning what does and does not work. Just because you can do something…like have an automatic music player…doesn’t mean that you should. It is like when telephone answering machines first came out. At first, the idea was to have a clever message for incoming calls. Then, people got tired of listening to those, and the basic messages we have today became popular. Some techie things are suggested here…letting the user choose the font…are a bit too geeky for me, although I guess that could change. The main idea is to show a bit of courtesy to your visitor. It is not like your blog is the only one.