Chamblee54

It is a popular line. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” The credit, or blame, for this gem is assigned to Ben Franklin. Did he really say it? What was he talking about?
The good news is that Mr. Franklin did say these words. (Here is the text. ) What follows was written by a lawyer. Prepare to be confused.
The words appear originally in a 1755 letter that Franklin is presumed to have written on behalf of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the colonial governor during the French and Indian War. The letter was a salvo in a power struggle between the governor and the Assembly over funding for security on the frontier, one in which the Assembly wished to tax the lands of the Penn family, which ruled Pennsylvania from afar, to raise money for defense against French and Indian attacks. The governor kept vetoing the Assembly’s efforts at the behest of the family, which had appointed him. So to start matters, Franklin was writing not as a subject being asked to cede his liberty to government, but in his capacity as a legislator being asked to renounce his power to tax lands notionally under his jurisdiction. In other words, the “essential liberty” to which Franklin referred was thus not what we would think of today as civil liberties but, rather, the right of self-governance of a legislature in the interests of collective security.
Mr. Franklin was writing on behalf of legislators who wanted to assess a tax. The quote is used by tax hating conservatives. The modern conservative wants to send a hundred thousand troops to a conflict eight time zones away, and pay for it with tax cuts.
Another article tells much the same story, but with a couple of twists. There is a google gimmick that shows how often a quote is used. The BF quote was little known until the twentieth century.
The techcrunch article introduces a dandy word for the rampant misuse of quotes. The word is contextomy. This explanation is from Matthew McGlone of the University of Texas at Austin.
“‘Contextomy’ refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original linguistic context in a way that distorts the source’s intended meaning, a practice commonly referred to as ‘quoting out of context’. Contextomy is employed in contemporary mass media to promote products, defame public figures and misappropriate rhetoric. A contextomized quotation not only prompts audiences to form a false impression of the source’s intentions, but can contaminate subsequent interpretation of the quote when it is restored to its original context. …”
Episode 39 of The Fallacy-a-Day Podcast deals with contextomy. The spell check suggestion for contextomy is contentment. This is a repost. Pictures for this feature are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.

The names in these pictures are children. They lived in Pakistan. They were killed by the United States. Unmanned aircraft routinely fly over Pakistan and kill people. There is no risk to any United States military personnel.
The background pictures are from a neighborhood fall festival. This is life in the United States. Some say that the children in Pakistan are killed to preserve this way of life. Kill them over there before they come kill us here.
A young man was killed in a Florida town. An enormous outcry was heard. His image was on every television set in America. Every name in this feature is a young person, killed by an the American military. Pictures of these children will not be seen on American television. If the POTUS had a son, he would not look like one of these children. This is a repost.

October 16 is Oscar Wilde’s birthday. On that day in 1854, he appeared in Dublin, Ireland. He is one of the most widely quoted people in the english language. Some of those quotes are real. Since he was a published author, it should be easy to verify what he really said. This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
One night in 1974, PG was talking to someone, and did not know who Oscar Wilde was. The conversational partner was horrified. PG became educated, and learned about a misunderstanding with the Marquess of Queensberry. Soon the “Avenge Oscar Wilde” signs made sense.
Mr. Wilde once made a speaking tour in the United States. One afternoon, in Washington D.C., the playwright met Walt Whitman. Thee and thou reportedly did the “Wilde thing”.
The tour then went to Georgia. A young black man had been hired as a valet for Mr. Wilde on this tour. On the train ride from Atlanta to Augusta, some people told Mr. Wilde that he could not ride in the same car as the valet. This was very confusing.
After his various legal difficulties, Oscar Wilde moved to Paris. He took ill, while staying in a tacky hotel. He looked up, and said “either that wallpaper goes, or I do”. Soon, Oscar Wilde passed away.

This is my 911 story. I repeat it every year at this time. If you saw it last year, it has not changed. Feel free to skip the text and look at the pictures, from The Library of Congress.
I was at work, and someone called out that someone had run a plane into the World Trade Center. I didn’t think much of it, until I heard that the second tower had been hit, then the Pentagon, then the towers collapsed, then a plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
I focused on my job most of the day. There was always a lot of melodrama at that facility, and concentrating on my production duties helped to keep me saner. This was roughly the halfway point of my seven year tenure at this place.
One of the other workers was a bully for Jesus. He was a hateful loudmouth. After the extent of the damage became known, he shouted “They are doing this for Allah,” and prayed at his desk. The spectacle of the BFJ praying made me want to puke.
I became alienated from Jesus during these years. Once, I had once been tolerant of Christians and Jesus, as one would be with an eccentric relative. I began to loath the entire affair. I hear of others who found comfort in religion during this difficult time. That option simply was not available for me.

Religion and perfume have several things in common. They are both fun to smell, but dangerous to swallow. A tasteful drop behind the ear is pleasant. Too much, and you will run from the room gasping for breath. Both are cheap products, sold in a fancy bottle, at a steep markup.
Before easy access to water, people did not bathe every day. To cover up the aroma of human existence, many used fragrances. This too is similar to the function of religion.
Perfume has been considered a feminine product. In a clever marketing move, a masculine scent was called cologne, and sold to men. Religion is gross to many people, so it is sold as faith.
Smell is a driving force in animal behavior. Ants used smell to communicate, and perform feats in numbers which would be impossible as individuals. Smells go directly to the brain, without filtering and processing like sounds, sights, and tastes. Religion is the emotional equivalent of odors. This is a repost. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.

There was click bait on facebook, 6 Obnoxious Phrases Everyone Says Without Realizing It. This is from Answers dot com, which always makes you click five times to get to the next line. Is this racist?
Since it was a picture file, you could not copy the bait line. You had to type it out. This will be handy when trying to find a text list of the 6 phrases. However, this was not on the front page of search results. To save the readers the labor of clicking through, here are the obnoxious phrases: Literally, It’s Like Crack!, I Would Totally Hit/Tap That, Man, That’s Gay, No Offense, Haters Gonna Hate, Addicted, Like, Totes, That’s so ghetto, Sorry not sorry, It is what it is, That’s retarded. Some bright readers will notice that 13 phrases are listed. Whatever.
The google page looks like a post can be milked out. Thought catalog has a top ranked result, and in an hour their server might finally open the post. Puffho contributes 22 Common Phrases We All Secretly Hate. “My bad.” “Sorry I’m not sorry.” “No worries.” “Chill out.” “Sunday funday!” “Everything happens for a reason.” Do you really believe that?
10 Things That Brits Don’t Realize Are Offensive to Americans is to be expected. It does not list tacky things to say, but rather general lines of conversation. An example: “Sex talk and toilet humor Like swearing, discussing what goes on between the sheets or on the loo is a lot less common among friends in the U.S. I only get to talk toilet trash when I’m back in the U.K., where I’ll happily spend an evening necking a full-bodied Rioja and discussing orifices.” Absolutely.
14 shitty sayings looked promising. Then a pop up arose. “No one likes pop-ups. Shit. Anyway, now that we’re here, I’ll tell you that if you like Wait But Why, you should give our email list a try. We’ll only send you 2-4 emails a month, right when new posts come out.” You can’t make this stuff up.
One bright spot in this affair is 11 Overused Phrases Dumb People Say. 1. “It is what it is” 2. The formula of: “How X was Y??,” How good was that steak?,” “How random was that?” 3. “I don’t give a rat’s ass” 4. “If someone would have told me a decade ago that in 10 years I’d be doing X, I would NEVER have believed it.” 5. “The dog wants out” 6. “…it does. It really does.” 7. “That is really unique.” 8. “I could care less” 9. “How do you REALLY feel?” 10. “You can’t win for losing.” 11. “I am NOT a happy camper.” In the comments, DrZack Martin adds “Just saying thanks wouldn’t just be enough, for the fantastic fluency in your writing.” Awesome.
The most ironic title in this collection is 12 things that only a douchebag would say. The use of a hygiene appliance as an insult is obsolete. When you hit the Continue button, the cursor goes to the next button on top of the page. When you hit next, nothing happens. It might be for the best. Maybe the authors credit will have to do. “Neil Bulson writes words for money. Some of them are even funny. Hey, that rhymed! As you can see, it is probably best not to encourage him.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. LOL

When you publish a list like the one below, you are placing a target on your back. Above the bulls-eye is the word hypocrite. PG does not claim to take all of these suggestions. What follows is a goal to work for, not a script for situation comedy. This is a repost.
When in doubt, shut up.
A halo is best worn over one ear.
If you want to be forgiven, forgive. If you want to be understood, understand.
There are few situations that cannot be made worse with anger and loud talk.
You have two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk.
A douche is a hygiene appliance. The verb form refers to using this device for cleaning purposes. Neither the noun, nor the verb, is appropriate as an insult.
A sentence has one period, placed at the end. Do not place a period after every word to make a point. You should find another way to show that you really, really mean it.
Not everyone enjoys the sound of your voice as much as you do.
Ass is a noun. It refers to either a donkey, or a butt. It is not an adverb, nor an adjective. Do not place ass between an adjective and a noun.
Before you “call out” somebody for “racism”, drape a towel over your mirror.
The third commandment says to not use the word G-d “in vain”. The G word should only be used for worship, and respectful discussion. Improper uses include expressing anger, swearing, selling life insurance, and pledging “allegiance” to a symbol of nationalism.
Pictures are from the The Library of Congress.

Lately PG and Uzi have missed a bunch of Sunday afternoons. Either someone is doing something, or it is raining, or it is too hot, or someone falls asleep watching tv and doesn’t wake up until dinnertime. Today was a return to normalcy.
Since it looked like possible rain, the first idea was to go to Little Five Points. If rain comes, you can hang out inside somewhere. You need to park the vehicle first. All the side streets have signs saying that parking is for residents only. The Carter Center was next. Jimmy said it was ok to park there.
Uzi decided he wanted to walk up North Highland Avenue towards the Plaza. Manuel’s was still open, with the threatened construction not yet begun. The buildings behind Druid Hills Baptist Church were not so lucky. About this time the rain clouds were going away, and the sun was out. It got hot. This is Georgia, and it gets hot in July.
Before long it was back in the vehicle, and dinner negotiations started. PG was driving toward the Piccadilly on Howell Mill Road. Uzi mentioned a buffet he knew. It was off I85, south of I285. PG was up for an adventure. Any concerns about Uzi’s directions were tactfully overlooked.
The freeway was crowded with people trying to get on I20. Once you got south of that, it was clear sailing to the airport. Uzi said to get off the freeway at Riverdale Road. PG drove down for a little while, and Uzi said that this was the wrong road. PG took a wrong turn, or two, and found himself in the middle of the airport. Finally, a freeway entrance appeared, and PG turned onto I85 south.
Uzi said to exit onto Old National. Once again, this was not the correct exit. PG went down a few roads, while Uzi tried to get directions on his smart phone. PG pulled into a gas station, and stopped. Uzi played with the smart phone. PG tried not to think about the iron bars on the gas station windows. Finally, Uzi got directions. The route was backtracked. PG went south on I85.
The magic phone said to get off at exit 66. Even though the phone said to turn right, Uzi said to turn left. The buffet was a recovering Shoney’s. It was open on Sunday.
The cashier lady asked you to look at the buffet before you paid for your meal. There were signs asking you not to waste food. The vittles were better than most buffets. PG ate more than he should, got on I285, and was not run over by the crazy drivers.

It is the saturday of Caitlyn Jenner week. A media freak is praised for her courage when she gets on the cover of a major magazine. Some black people denounce her for being white. Matt Walsh, who has his own attention whore issues, calls the newly minted lady “an insult to women.” The media circus does a good job of distracting the unwashed public from the other issues of the day.
Maybe it is time to go look at the yard sales. There are two neighborhood spots that PG likes to check for garbage garage sale advertising. The first one did not have any notices. PG rode his bike around the block, and found a sign at the other location. The sale promoted at the second location was two hundred yards down the street from the first location. “My husband was in charge of the signs.”
The sale was the usual assortment of furniture, clothes, books, and knick knacks. The clothes were too small. The desk chair, with a torn up arm rest, was twenty dollars.
The books proved interesting. Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea is by Chelsea Handler, another person who enjoys being the center of attention. Her books are not prestigious literature.
In Fact: The Best of Creative Nonfiction is a collection of twenty five essays. The yard sale lady read it in college, and said it was good. That, and Chelsea Handler, were sold for one dollar.
PG then noticed Growing Up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead. It is the “journey from straight-laced suburban kid to touring Deadhead.” The yard sale lady said it was her husband’s … or did she say fiancee … and he usually reads good books. This may explain the sign placement issues. The price of the books became three for a dollar.
There was a glittering coffee mug. The handle was far enough away from the base for the mug to fit in a cup holder. The yard sale lady threw that in, and told PG to enjoy the rest of his day. Sometimes it is best to take the hint. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.