Chamblee54

Mr. Malcontent has a feature today about the August cover for Vanity Fair. It shows JSM and the heiress bride doing a little fist bump.
The cover is an obvious takeoff on a New Yorker cover that featured BHO and his proud wife. Lots of feathers were ruffled by that cover, mostly by the humor challenged. The current VF cover will likely result in whining about Liberal Bias.
New Yorker and Vanity Fair are both produced by Conde-Nast. The corporate name is rumored to be short for condescending nasty. There is no word on whether Vogue or Conde Nast Traveler will have political satire cartoons on the cover. Maybe Vogue could get fashion icon Nancy Reagan to do a fist bump with her husband’s tombstone.
Malcontent supplied a link to a column by Leonard Pitts in the Miami Herald. Mr. Pitts opined that as a nation we were “ignorant, irony-impaired and petrified.”
The most recent effort by Mr. Pitts was ” You Think Slavery Ended in 1865?”. It is good reading, especially for those who enjoy talk of the good old days.
One good thing did come out of chasing the link to Mr. Pitts. A bit of backtracking on the Herald page showed the list of communists columnists. The other editorial columnist on the payroll there is one of my heroes, Carl Hiaasen. If irony is going away on a cruise, then Carl Hiaasen is throwing one helluva Bon Voyage party.
The latest effort by Mr. Hiaasen (does anyone know how to pronounce that?) is about the folly of trying to solve the oil price explosion by domestic offshore drilling. This is a favorite topic for the whiners on the radio today, but a bit of research shows a bit of putrification. For instance, the drilling off the Florida coast is most likely to produce natural gas, which is not what your SUV runs on.
The fact remains that no matter how much we drill, we are going to run out of oil someday. Another source of energy is needed. The oil companies will have to find an honest way to make a living.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
pitts- pits, mitts, putts, pints, pitas, piths
carl- carol, car, earl, marl, surl, care, call, cart, card, carp
hiaasen- baseness, unbiased, ashien, absentia
Leonard- leotard, leopard
conde- clyde, coned, code, condo,cone
nast- nat, east, last, cast, mast, past, bast, fast, vast, nasty
putrification- purification, petrification

Todays adventure in digitilogy started a couple of weeks ago. Word came in that Rush Limbaugh had signed a contract for $400 million. That kind of money will buy a lot of painkillers.
I did question whether Rush was a good investment for that sort of coinage. His popularity seems to have peaked about the time of the Gingrich revolution. Even if he is at fourteen minutes and counting, someone thinks the last thirty seconds of his fame is worth nine digits of loot.
Then, one of the other radio whiners…probably Mike Gallagher…got jealous over another person getting a big contract. I didn’t catch the name right away, but soon found out that it was Sean Hannity.
I stalked Sean Hannity one afternoon. In the early nineties, I was working in a job downtown with lots of free time. Mr. H was a celebrity guest in a sparsely attended parade…probably veterans day. I followed his car for a couple of blocks, staring at him with a blank look, like I wasn’t too connected to the planet. Finally, he looked at me and said “are we having fun yet?” ”
But that wasn’t the best part of my search party. A technorati looksee for Sean Hannity yielded a bunch of stories about Micheal Savage.
Mr. Savage is not from the south. His former last name is Wiener. And he is like a kid who shouts cuss words at dinner, and loves the attention that he gets.
He has outdone himself lately. He was talking about autism. He should know that people know how to transcribe what he says.

” I’ll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it’s a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out. That’s what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they’re silent? They don’t have a father around to tell them, ‘Don’t act like a moron. You’ll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don’t sit there crying and screaming, idiot. ”

I can’t spill too many details, but I know a bit about mental illness. I have sat in on many “what can we do”conversations. There are a lot of unknowns, and perhaps some things could be handled better. But that does not excuse a man, who should know better, for trashing a lot of decent families.
Of course, some people still don’t get it. A conservative blog posted a piece called ” “This is why Michael Savage is the most hated conservative in America.” And someone left this in the comment thread: ” cant believe no one believes in free speech anymore… all of you so called conservatives have played directly into “Media Matters” trap! …good job”

Sometimes a picture is exciting. Sometimes it is just something to keep busy. This is one of the latter.
There are things I like about the way it turned out. The interplay of colors at the middle of the cmc is nice. I like to think I learn something on all my projects, but I don’t know what it is on this one.
Technically, it is a mess. When I was cutting out the parts, I made a lot of mistakes. Look at the yellow border tile next to the N at the end.
As some may have guessed, this is my “real” name.
As for BallandChain, I was listening to Janis Joplin when I opened the picture log, and started to record this image. Is my name like a ball and chain? Not really, but you have to name something something.

BHO is in the war zone this weekend. As talk radio notes, this visit will be getting lots of coverage. It is amazing what scheduling something for a slow news week will do.
Last year, JSM went to Iraq. He was quoted as saying that Baghdad was safe to walk in, especially when you wear a flak jacket and have a helicopter or two covering you.
I wonder what exactly these bigshots learn on these trips to combat zones. The military will show them what they want them to see. BHO could see and hear the same things stateside, but without all the publicity.

12:15PM 071708 From a waffle house on hwy 155 in McDonough
When PG go to work, the first thing he heard was that he was going to deliver a box to McDonough. When he got there, the had to wait on the old machine to go back. While this was being done, PG went to a Waffle House to drink some noon coffee.
“I love your son to death,but I can’t understand him”

“He’s too fly”
“the next American Idol”
“You better catch them when their drunk”
The fishwrapper can be an ally when you have time to kill. This is the first time that PG has paid seventy five cents for the worthless ad rag.
PG decides to go to the Metro Section. The first thing to catch his eye is the Peach Buzz. Ron Wood is in alcohol rehab, Natalie Cole has hepatitis, and Ben and Jerry have a new flavor *out*…”Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road”.
It seems like Eyellton has a show soon in Vermont. This will be the fiftieth state that he has done a show in. This is not counting the various states of intoxication and mental disarray. Ben and Jerry are going to celebrate with a limited edition ice cream, with profits going to Eyellton’s AIDS foundation. ( PG wonders what accounting methods are used in these “profits go to” type of things)
PG heard an unconfirmed story about Eyellton and ice cream a few years ago. It seems like an ex bf wanted an ice cream shop as palimony. He got it. And what topping do you want on that banana split?
Moving on in the Metro section, there is a page of election results. This is known as filling the page without paying a reporter.
Vernon Jones and Jim Martin are going to runoff for the Senate nomination. There is no word on whether Vernon’s pal BHO will drop by to help out. In district 81, Chris Huttman beat Cecillia Hailey 811 to 369. That margin is too big to be credited to a blog post seen by less than fifty people.
A big hat tip to Joemyg-d for the cartoon. The grim reaper is said to be offended.

Tomorrow is the primary election in Georgia. On wordpress it is already Tuesday, but they run on G.M.T. and the election is in E.D.T. But then, maybe an election should be conducted on mean time.
I seriously worry about anyone who bases his vote on the word of a slack blogger. But, since you are reading, I will make endorsements. Just as long as the endorsement is not on a promissory note.
And before the clock strikes midnight in the Eastern daylight zone, Let us pay tribute to Sargent Friday on 714!
For U.S. Senate- As GriftDrift says, this nomination is a sacrificial lamb. Saxby Chambliss will probably win in a landslide, even though he deserves a term in jail. Whoever the Demos nominate will get stomped.
Considering this, I recommend Vernon Jones. He is leaving a secure job as the CEO of Dekalb County to run for the Senate. I say lets encourage this fools mission. He can steal from his campaign fund, and go around the state seeking sexual adventures.
For Dekalb County CEO- This race is to replace Vernon Jones. I don’t know much about this race, except that Ann Kimbrough is the Chief of Staff for Mr. Jones.( I used to work in a store where the manager would announce who the phone call was from when paging someone. One person, who was known to play, got a lot of calls from “Miss Jones”).
Burrell Ellis is a county commissioner, and some say he is the best man for the job. However, in the Dekalb Neighbor story about the race, he has this big grin on his face. I think he is up to something. I recommend Steen Miles, the other lady in the race. She looks like an honest person.
For Georgia House District 81- This is a no brainer. Chris Huttman left a comment on my blog yesterday, so of course you should vote for him. His opponent, Cecillia Hailey, sent me a postcard today. She says ” Chris Huttman supports an agenda that is against the traditional family”. What this has to do with support for Education and more intelligent transportation is a mystery to me.
Remember, whoever you vote for, be sure to vote. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. This is the nation of whiners.

There are times when the business of being a slack blogger is just too much fun.
Tuesday is the Democratic Primary in Georgia. I confess to not being the most informed voter in the State. I was only aware of the Democratic contest for the district 81 when I got this postcard from Chris Huttman. It had a picture of a pair of handcuffs, with the slogan “This isn’t the type of jewelry people who want to represent us should be wearing” It seems like his opponent, a lady named Cecillia Hailey, has a problem with getting caught.
It is Saturday night, and I don’t have anything better to do than go to politicians websites to see who lies the most. First I go to Mr. Huttman’s facility.
He is a fine looking young man with a great smile. A ’98 graduate of Chamblee High School, Mr. Huttman bought one of the condos that have sprung up behind the antique stores in downtown Chamblee. According to LinkedIn, he worked in I.T. for the State Democratic Party. He had some connection to Cathy Cox, which caused Peach Pundit to be jealous. LinkedIn says he is currently employed as a Media Specialist at LUC media group. LUC is a media buying service specializing in Democratic Politicians. A google search of the LUC site does not show any reference to Mr. Huttman.
A look at his website shows this sentence: “I’m running for the State House as a Democrat to change the culture in the General Assembly that rewards incompetence and continues to focus on partisan bickering at the expense of real solutions to the problems of everyday Georgians. This is from a person whose primary issue seems to be the alleged criminal history of his opponent.
I suppose elections are supposed to be about issues, and Mr. Huttman does mention a few. He discusses education, healthcare, and transportation, and has valid things to say about all of them. Neither he nor Mrs. Hailey discuss Water, which is the most important issue our legislature will ever ignore.

If you type in http://www.cecilliahailey.com/, you see a picture of Mrs. Hailey speaking. She is wearing a T shirt, which seems to be her standard campaign outfit. This site is run by the Chris Huttman campaign to talk about Mrs. Hailey’s problems. If this is true, then it is not a pretty picture.
Out of a spirit of fairness, I decided to go to the website sponsored by Mrs. Hailey. The first line is “Cecillia Hailey is a small business owner and former public, private and University Professor in DeKalb County, the state of Georgia and abroad…She is dedicated, hardworking, compassionate and determined. She speaks conversational Spanish and is currently learning Hebrew. She has been married to Carlton Hailey for 16 years. They have 4 children, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a fish named Herman. Cecillia is now our district candidate for Georgia House District 81” She says she is a member of Congregation Shearith Israel.The issues she is concerned with are education and PDK.
On education, she says some interesting things. Among them ( the spelling is hers): “I am a third generation Educator…I also have 4 aunts that were also renouned Educators…Their expactations were clear.” “We need to build new schools and more schools. For example, Chamblee High School has toxic levels of mold, and rodent infestation. Cross Keys High School has leaks and old sewers.” Is this a comment about Chamblee graduate Huttman? Also, this reporter was a graduate of Cross Keys, and I believe what she says. Back to the candidate. “3. School uniforms should be mandatory to cut down on competition, inappropriate dress and increase student confidence and aid in school retention.””5. More funding needs to be placed in after school activities and athletics. This would help reduce crime rates after school, boredom, encourage higher learning and decrease childhood obesity.” On PDK, she makes more insightful comments “We must all live with the PDK airport. However, since PDK is a private airport, It is not subject to as many rigourous security restrictions and regulations as Hartsfield/Jackson. Because of this, drugs have easy access to arive in our city. Moreover, because security is not a major priority, any terriorist can park their plane at the airport and walk to CDC.” Mrs. Hailey does not discuss the charges of criminal behavior, nor does she discuss the water crisis.
Mr. Huttman and Mrs. Hailey are competing for the Democratic nomination for House Seat number 81. The opponent in the November election will be Jill Chambers, who is a piece of work herself. This may be a good time to vote none of the above.

I got an email the other night urging me to sign a petition. The intent of the petition was to urge Georgia Tech not to tear down the Crum and Forster building at 771 Spring Street.
I worked for a few years in an adjacent building. During this time, this part of Midtown did a 180 degree turnaround. A big part of this change was the construction of the Tech Square Complex. This was a psychological breakthrough for Tech, to expand the campus on the east side of the Freeway. Some of the petition signers say that Tech intends to expand all the way up to North Avenue.
The current plan is to destroy the building, and replace it with a grassy field. I cannot see Tech letting such costly real estate lie unused. Maybe we are going to have a Presidential Motorcade along Spring Street, and need a grassy knoll. .
Now, the building in question would need serious renovation. It may not be economically feasible to save it. While the exterior is glorious, my visits to the interior recall a dilapidated mess. And this is Atlanta, where Historic Preservation is a dirty word. The patron saint of this town is William Tecumseh Sherman.
A few years ago, there was an apartment building on tenth street that many wanted to save. It was a residence of Margaret Mitchell, who called it “The Dump”.There was an effort to tear it down, and people who wanted it saved. Then, the building caught on fire. There was a police precinct in the building next door. The building burned anyway, and then there was a second fire. Finally, a Museum was built on the site, contrary to the wishes of Margaret Mitchell.
Don’t be surprised if there is a fire at 771 Spring Street.
There is a petition to save the building. I have reviewed the list, and there are lots of duplicates, and thus difficult to tell exactly how many individuals are on it. Famed Tech Alumnus George P. Burdell is number 1879.
It would be a shame to let this building, and block, go. There are brick sidewalks on fourth street, with crab apple trees near Spring Street. In the fall, I would go out back and pick my morning snack. Atlanta is such a homogenized region, with almost no character. If 771 Spring is destroyed, there will be that much less.

It was Wednesday morning, which meant the Neighbor Newspaper was delivered to the house. After reading the musings on the editorial page, I looked at the front page. The candidates for Dekalb County CEO were on display.
Dekalb CEO is a powerful position. The current big dog, Vernon Jones, is running for the U.S. Senate. I realized as I looked at the smiling faces that I knew almost nothing about the contenders. Choosing a county boss man/lady based on a smile and a hairdo is more common than many imagine.
All five are black, so race is not a factor. The county seems to be going smoothly, although there are things that I do not know. Maybe eeny meeny mienee moe will work.
Next Tuesday is the First Primary election. The first decision is whether to vote Democratic or Republican. In 2006 Ralph Reed needed to retire, so I went Republican. This year, the action seems to be on the Democratic side.
The other race to ponder next Tuesday is the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. Vernon Jones is going to try to win a major statewide race as a Black Man. The other candidates include a former TV reporter and assorted party hacks.
I would really like to see Incumbent Saxby Chambliss spend more time with his family. Shortly before the invasion of Iraq, I sent my representatives a letter stating my opposition to the war. I didn’t hear back from Mr. Chambliss for a while. When he did reply, he sent a cheerful letter about the wonderful progress we were making in the war on terror. I wonder if his office even read the letter that I sent. The man does not represent me.

By the time this is posted, it will be July 2 in G.M.T. Many things have happened on this day.
In non leap years, July 2 is the middle of the year, with 182 days before and after. In Leap years, it is day 184, which is the second day of the second half.
In 1776, the Continental Congress voted to declare Independence from Great Britain. Many feel that this is the true birthday of the United States. Of course, the tradition is to celebrate on the fourth, and tradition usually wins out over facts.
Taking the freedom theme a step further, in 1839, fifty three rebelling African slaves, led by Joseph Cinque, took over the slave ship Amistad. In 1863, this was the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg. This battle is considered the turning point of the War Between the States.
In 1881, President James Garfield was fatally wounded by Charles Guiteau. The cartoon cat did not have a comment.
In 1934, this was the end of the Night of the Long Knives. Ernst Rohm died this night.
In a reversal from the freedom theme, in 1962 the first Wal Mart opened in Rogers, Arkansas.
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

Most days have famous people born on them. On July 2, 1877, Hermann Hesse entered the earth. In 1932, Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas was born. Richard Petty followed in 1937, Jose Canseco in 1964, and Lindsay Lohan in 1986.

How many dates feature the death of an actor who played a Funeral home employee? Fred Gwynne, who played Herman Munster, left the planet on July 2, 1993. Other performers to exit stage right include Betty Grable (1973), Lee Remick (1991), Jimmy Stewart(1997), and Beverly Sills (2007). Other famous people who didn’t see July third include Nostradamus (1566), Ernest Hemingway (1961) and Vladimir Nabokov (1977).
Many thanks to Wikipedia for the information in this feature.

AtlMalcontent links to a feature at the Daily Kos about JSM( He called the diarist a cretin). It is a picture of him waving at reporters on his return from ‘Nam. The problem here is that Bill “You Bet” Bennett says JSM can’t raise his arms above his shoulders.
As in many algorenet adventures, the goodies are in the comment thread. We see the unedited picture, which has Carol McCain smiling behind him. She is the first wife, who stayed married to him while he was in captivity. You are going to hear that story again, even though she is supportive of JSM today.
There is lots of back and forth in this thread. The consensus is that there are many reasons to fuss at JSM, but whining about his war record is below the belt.
I tend to agree, with one caveat. Vietnam Vet John Kerry was swiftboated, while Alabama National Guard Vet George Bush won a second term. What goes around comes around. Max Cleland might have something to say about this.
There was one comment in the thread I would like to see some backup on. It comes from David Kroning, and it goes like this: “I don’t think this is fair… He’s a lot older now than in that picture. And, McCain has already said he is not a war “hero.” In fact, he said very clearly in an interview with 60-Minutes in the 1980s that he considered himself to be a war “criminal” for “having dropped napalm an innocent women and children.”Why?”
This is a problem I have had with JSM for a while. On Super Tuesday, my choices were JSM and BHO, and I got to thinking about whether JSM was a hero. The thought occurred to me that he had dropped napalm on North Vietnam. While his record as a POW is admirable, those women and children are not going to come back.
So, I copied that quote, and entered it in Google. The only thing the G beast came up with was the same Daily Kos comment thread.

PG looked at the clock, and saw that afternoon was about to convert into evening. It had been a no drive day.
Through the magic of the algorenet, PG had traveled far and wide. The server for many of his sputterings was in California, and all that pixelage rambled thousands of miles. Once, PG chatted with a neighbor across the street, and the typoids went to silicone valley and back before going fifty yards east.
PG also copped some lovely music. An MP3 site was going to post 24 items in 24 hours. While PG had not gotten any of these yet today, last night he got some lovely material from David Bowie and the Replacements.
The picture he had worked on the last few weeks was finally coming into shape. The last of the changes was hopefully made to the model, and as many bugs as possible were erased from the design. The final assembly will probably be next weekend, along with the fourth.
There was a comment to his last post, and PG made a reply. There is a long and unhappy story that PG could use to illustrate how he feels, but does not need the negativity tonight. The memories that would fuel the story are not going to go anywhere, even though PG would be happier if they did.
The bottom line is, there is a difference between standing up for what is right, and engaging in a playground quarrel. It can be tough to tell the difference sometimes. Even if you are right to stand up against evil, there is a chance that innocent people will get caught in the crossfire. There is even a cliché prayer for this: Lord, give me the strength to change the things I can change, the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to tell the difference One of the offices that PG visits has another version of this. Lord, grant me the fortune to not see the people that I do not like, the kindness to greet those that I do like, and the eyesight to tell the difference” That might not be exactly how it goes, but verbatim memory is not PG’s best quality.
After a while, the laundry was done, the coffee drank, the chatters offended, and the picture still not finished. It was time to go look for yard sales. PG found one next to a McMansion under construction. There was a NY Yankees baseball hat for one dollar. The world series’ of 96 and 99 are a bitter memory, and PG is a Georgia native. Despite this, he paid the lady a dollar for the hat. He does not know where he will wear it. Maybe at night no one will know the difference.
In a little while, PG will clean up and walk a few blocks to a potluck. It will be a no driving day. These are rare, and are appreciated. The devils deal our culture made with oil is not going to go anywhere. One day of not driving will not make much of a difference, except to make PG feel better.

It is said you cannot write the perfect country and western song without something about trains. This perfect song also needs to have something about rain. Snow should be a good substitute, especially for the modern country and western singer. The perfect blog post does not exist. This post in particular does not mention trucks, mama, prison, or getting drunk.

P.G. realized at midnight that he would not be sleeping through the night. Not for lack of trying.
The day before, his boss asked him to come in at nine instead of ten thirty. Just as he was beginning to enjoy staying up to midnight and sleeping until eight, another change had been thrown his way. Not wanting to do much, he decided to go to bed early, and tossed and half slept until 12. And he thought and thought. Thinking too much was always a problem. The comparison of who was uglier, Neil Young or Neal Boortz, would have to wait until another day.
The computer was still turned on, so that was a natural stop. There was a parodic post about how the drought in Atlanta was ruining gay pride, and by association the fabulicity of Rosie O’Donnell. Next, the story of a College Teacher in Nashville. The students said some bigoted and yucky things. The instructor quoted a poem by Martin Niemoller, who is rolling in his grave wondering about the royalties.
Next on the “agenda” was an ex straight writer in New Yuck ( This facility is NSFW The user name is PAYOR, the password is PASSWORD, use all caps ) It seems as though some institute in Sweden did a study about the size of the different sections of the brain. The brains of gay men were like the brains of straight women, and the brains of straight men were like the brains of gay women. There was no report of the brain parts of dog lovers compared to people who drive S.U.V.’s.
Next stop on the midnight train under Georgia was Catharsis. Written by Iraqi Exile Abbas, this conduit has provided P.G. with much amusement, and proof that the surge is working. His comment today was brief… Firebrand populist to some, childish jackass to others, and profusely ugly to all. What’s he doing here? When you follow the link, you see a portrait of Shia boytoy Muqtada al-Sadr. He is number 13 on the Time magazine list of 100 influential people.
P.G. likes to peruse lists of 100 influential people, and is disappointed to not be included. He does not have the patience to click 100 times and see a different page for each I.P. When he sees that number one is The Dalai Lama ( hagiography by Deepak Chopra), he realizes that he is hungry and goes to make a sandwich.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
blogosphere- heliosphere, lithosphere, photosphere, troposphere, biosphere
neo- neon, no. leo, geo, net, neg, new, zee
Dalai- dalia, adlai.
Sadr- sad
Boortz- Boorish, abort
parodic- parodied, parody. procodic, periodic
fabulicity- fabulists, publicity, multiplicity, catholicity, felicity