Chamblee54

One hundred years ago, President William McKinley was near death. He had been shot September 6, 1901. Medicine at this time was primitive compared to today. During surgery after the shooting, the bullet was not removed. The University of Buffalo makes this comment: “Dr. Mann and the others were neither trained trauma surgeons nor did they bother with disinfection, not even wearing gloves. The first bullet had done little harm; the second entered McKinley’s abdomen. The physicians used improperly sanitized probes and when Mann could not find the bullet, he closed the incision without draining the wound. It was a fateful decision.”
After surgery, the President was taken to the home of John Milburn. He seemed to be recovering, but took a turn for the worse and died September 14, 2001.
President McKinley had been shaking hands at a reception. The meet and greet was at the Academy of Music, as part of the Pan American Expostion in Buffalo, New York. A letter to “The Nation” has this viewpoint. ” Whatever other results may flow from the assassination of President McKinley, let us hope that that object-lesson may be sufficient to put an end to our national habit of promiscuous handshaking in public. It is hard to conceive of a spectacle more fatuous and less edifying than that of a horde of country bumpkins, criminals, cranks, idlers, and curiosity-mongers standing in line waiting for a chance to grab and squeeze the hand of the unhappy Chief Executive of this country.”
There were anarchists in 1901, who had murdered several European leaders. Several of McKinley’s advisors did not think the reception was a good idea, and forced him to have extra security. A writer in the Buffalo Courier observed on September 5 “The surrounding of President McKinley by a body-guard of detectives when he appears in public, is probably as distasteful to himself as it is to abstract American sentiment, but as long as the earth is infested by malevolent cranks and unreasoning Anarchists, the precaution is entirely proper.”
A young man named Leon Czolgosz ( pronounced CHOL gosh) managed to wait in line with a concealed weapon. He was seen to shoot President McKinley. He was immediately captured, and executed October 29, 1901.
The video embedded with this feature speaks of a possible conspiracy. There would seem to be people who stood to benefit from having Teddy Roosevelt in the White House.
Lew Rockwell speaks of a rivalry between John Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan. Rockefeller man McKinley was replaced by Morgan supporter Roosevelt, who promptly began to break up the trusts. Another historian, connected to Lyndon LaRouche , speaks of British interests, and the rise of Confederate power. McKinley was a target of media superstar William Randolph Hearst. An editorial printed in the April 10, 1901 Journal asserted that “If bad institutions and bad men can be got rid of only by killing, then the killing must be done.”
Some say that a murder one hundred years ago does not affect us today. However, an argument could be made that the death of McKinley set in motion events that led to the establishment of the Federal Reserve System, and American participation in World War I. Both of those events have had effects lasting until today.
It is curious how President McKinley is mostly forgotten today. Some say he was most popular President since Lincoln . McKinley had been a wartime President, who won. His successor, Teddy Roosevelt, is on Mount Rushmore, and is a superstar President. Mr. Roosevelt also ran as a third party candidate in 1912, and helped to elect Woodrow Wilson. (Mr. Wilson was alleged to be a member of the “Omega Group”.) Mr. Roosevelt’s popularity is very different from the other three Vice Presidents who were promoted by the murder of the President.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.

As you may have heard, a speech that WMR gave some contributors has been played for the entertainment of the general public. Most of the attention has gone to a bizarre comment about the 47 percent. A few people have commented on his understanding of Palestinians, or lack thereof. Tonight, with the help of a transcript, we are going to look at a few more gems. If we haven’t gone on too long, there is a story out today about the ability of WMR to listen.
The first is about life in China. Romney: … when I was back in my private equity days, we went to China to buy a factory there, employed about 20,000 people, and they were almost all young women between the ages of about 18 and 22 or 23. They were saving for potentially becoming married, and they worked in these huge factories, they made various small appliances, and as we were walking through this facility, seeing them work, the number of hours they worked per day, the pittance they earned, living in dormitories with little bathrooms at the end with maybe ten rooms. And the rooms, they had 12 girls per room, three bunk beds on top of each other. You’ve seen them.
Audience member: Oh, yeah.
Romney: And around this factory was a fence, a huge fence with barbed wire, and guard towers. And we said, “Gosh, I can’t believe that you, you know, you keep these girls in.” They said, “No, no, no—this is to keep other people from coming in. Because people want so badly to come work in this factory that we have to keep them out, or they’ll just come in here and start working and try and get compensated. So, we—this is to keep people out.” And they said, “Actually, Chinese New Year, is the girls go home, sometimes they decide they’ve saved enough money and they don’t come back to the factory.” And he said, “And so on the weekend after Chinese New Year, there’ll be a line of people hundreds long outside the factory, hoping that some girls haven’t come back and they can come to the factory.
The next quote will come as a surprise. WMR is proudly exploiting the name of G-d. He never misses a chance to expound on “the definition of marriage”. The chatter about abortion never stops. So what does WMR say: “The biggest surprise that I have is that young people will vote for Democrats. They look at this and say, “Holy cow! The only guys who are worried about the future of our country and our future are Republicans.” But the Democrats, they talk about social issues, draw in the young people, and they vote on that issue.”
When social issues are not on the agenda, there is saber rattling about Iran. “No. 2, we should have been aggressively supporting the voices of dissent in Iran, and when there was an effort towards revolution there we should been aggressively supporting… Instead what this administration has done is communicate to the Iranians that we’re more worried about Israel attacking them than we are about them becoming nuclear.”
The last thing the Green movement in Iran wanted was vocal American support. That would have been all the government needed to label the revolutionaries as tools of America. If these forces were to come to power, they would probably want nuclear power. Finally, if Israel does attack Iran, it is the people who are going to suffer and die. Apparently, WMR wants us to support the revolutionaries, so Israel can kill them.
“This president’s failure to put in place a status forces agreement allowing 10-20,000 troops to stay in Iraq? Unthinkable” The SOFA was negotiated by George W. Bush. Almost no one wants to keep American troops in Iraq, including our allies there.
“I wind up talking about how the thing which I find most disappointing in this president is his attack of one American against another American,”
“If we go the way of Europe, which is spending 1 to 2 percent of their economy on the military, we will not be able to have freedom in the world.” A major reason for the megadebtload is defense spending. You can’t have it both ways. First you denounce the debt, then you say we need to spend money to have freedom in the world.
That wasn’t so bad. There is time for one more story . If you get bored, and want to skip ahead to the pictures, that is ok.
It was 2004, after the Supreme Judicial Court had cleared the way for same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses in Massachusetts. Governor Mitt Romney remained a roadblock, endorsing a constitutional amendment that would ban it.
Julie Goodridge and other plaintiffs in the landmark case had written a letter to the governor, asking for a meeting. He ignored it, so they staged a press conference at his office to read the letter to the media. That, finally, got them through his door. Once inside, they were shocked.
For about 20 frustrating minutes, say those in attendance who Boston Spirit interviewed recently, they shared their stories, pled their case, and tried to explain how equal marriage would protect them and their families. Romney sat stone-faced and almost entirely silent.
“Is there anything else?” Romney asked when they finished. With that, the meeting was over.
“It was like talking to a robot. No expression, no feeling,” recalls David Wilson, one of the plaintiffs in the case who met with Romney that day. “People were sharing touching stories, stories where you’d expect recognition in the other person’s face that they at least hear what you’re saying — that there’s empathy. He didn’t even shake his head. He was completely blank.” Occasionally Romney would say something.
“I didn’t know you had families,” remarked Romney to the group, according to Wilson.
The offhanded remark underscored that Romney, the governor of the first state prepared to grant same-sex marriage, hadn’t taken the time to look at what the landmark case was really about. By this point the plaintiff’s stories had been widely covered by national media — in particular, Julie Goodridge’s heartrending tale of how her then-partner, Hillary, was denied hospital visitation following the precarious birth of daughter Annie. It was the ignorance of these facts — and Romney’s inaccurate, insensitive answer to her parting question, that pushed Julie Goodridge to her breaking point.
“I looked him in the eye as we were leaving,” recalls Goodridge. “And I said, ‘Governor Romney, tell me — what would you suggest I say to my 8 year-old daughter about why her mommy and her ma can’t get married because you, the governor of her state, are going to block our marriage?’”
His response, according to Goodridge: “I don’t really care what you tell your adopted daughter. Why don’t you just tell her the same thing you’ve been telling her the last eight years.”
Romney’s retort enraged a speechless Goodridge; he didn’t care, and by referring to her biological daughter as “adopted,” it was clear he hadn’t even been listening. By the time she was back in the hallway, she was reduced to tears.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This was written like Kurt Vonnegut.

This is part seven of an appreciation of Catch 22. This is the last installment of the series. Parts one, two, three, four, five, and six precede it. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”..
XXXVII General Scheisskopf PG read chapter forty two, page 472, last night. What might be the longest read ever is over. This is the third attempt at reading Catch 22, and will probably be the last. A fourth reading will not be needed, although dwelling on a few selected parts might be fun. The legend is that a young lady told William Faulkner that she had read Sanctuary four times, and that she did not understand it. The author told her to read it a fifth time. When he heard the word fifth, he got a drink.
When you read a book, the unsung hero is the bookmark. They can be a fancy gift, or a handy scrap of paper. The idea is to mark the place where you finish reading, so you can pick up where you left off. The abbreviation bm is not appreciated.
The bookmark PG used for Catch 22 was in the book when he started the third reading. It is hospital green, and is four inches by five inches. The word MEMO is printed in red letters at the top. The logo for Pro Copy Services is at the bottom, along with their address on Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta. The phone number has a 404 area code, which is a clue to the age of this document. Atlanta went to multiple area codes in the early nineties, and anything OTP is 770. (There are a few exceptions. Chamblee is ITP, and yet was included in the 770 new wave.)
The MEMO sheet is from the shaky days at Redo Blue on Dunwoody Place. In those days, PG operated a Printfold blueprint machine, which was named Brunhilda. The other machine was Aretha. There was a telephone stand, which was a wooden column, made to appear like something from a Greek temple. PG would pick up the phone, and the customer would tell him to send a driver to get a job. This is an important part of the reprographic business.
PG learned very early to write down pickups. His memory, while pretty good for a chronic pothead, simply does not work all the time. If you write something down, and forget to tell the dispatcher, you can look at the paper later. Your memory will be instantly restored. A piece of paper does not forget.
This was a very serious problem with the bully for Jesus. He trusted G-d to help him remember to tell the dispatcher. About once a week, there would be a call from the customer. “I called for a pickup, but no one is here” “Who did you talk to?” “That guy that is always preaching”. A written note is more effective than prayer.
The bookmark was created long before the the bully for Jesus caused his turmoil. There are five pickups written down on it. At 11:10, Brennean Beer Gorman called. They were building an office near Perimeter Center, and sent a man named Charley Ginste to supervise the field operation. BBG was a New York firm. The way Mr. Ginste talked reflected this.
The second pickup was at 11:45. It was Nancy, at WW. This would be Weaver Withers. They designed shopping centers. John Weaver was a legend in the Atlanta architecture industry. He was described as a typical architectural tyrant, always threatening to quit and go sell vacuum cleaners.
The third pickup was from L.J. Hooker, at Live Oak Parkway. It was at 12:00. At 3:00, there was another pickup for L.J.Hooker in Norcross. This was probably the same office. L.J. Hooker was an Australian company, which built a lot of stuff around Atlanta. They bought a couple of blocks on Peachtree Street, between 10th and 11th. This was the heart of the Strip. The plan was to build a super center of some sort, and one day they tore down everything standing on that block. Soon after, the financing for that project evaporated, and the land was a red clay mudpile for ten years.
The last pickup was at 3:10. It was from Bob Gwinn, at a company called Gemcraft. This was the type of company that would drive a blueprinter crazy. They had a special size paper, which you had to order, and could not use for any other customer. They had goofy jobs, where you would run a few sets, replace this original with that original, and run a few more sets. They finally went out of business.
When PG went to another division of Redo Blue, he helped with an inventory. He saw a few packs of the paper that only Gemcraft used. The branch manager said, “they only got us for twenty five dollars”.
PG stuck his foot in his mouth once with Gemcraft. There was a lady who answered the phones, who we will call Sally. PG was talking to Sally, and made a comment about the pot calling the kettle black. Later, PG was talking to one of the drivers, and asked what Sally looked like. “Well, she’s black.”
For those of you who want to discuss Catch 22, Chapter XXXVII is very short. It is the return of Scheisspof, who is now a General. He still likes military parades. Mrs. Sheisskopf is left behind in the states, which means the whores in Rome have less competition. In case you were not paying attention earlier, Scheisskopf means shithead in German.
XXXVIII Kid Sister This is another weird chapter. The motto of this blog used to be a quote from Hunter S. Thompson. When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. The problem was, PG spelled a key word wierd. One day, there was an email correcting his error. The name on the email was the same as the paper boy, who was a year older than PG and would tell the kids about the horrors of eighth grade gym at Cross Keys. It wasn’t the same person.
PG thought that was awfully picky. He was quoting Hunter S. Thompson, and spelled weird incorrectly. Of course, it does matter, and the word was corrected. Just remember, it takes we to be weird.
One of the bosses at Redo Blue was addicted to cliches. Whenever someone used the word me in his presence, the boss would interrupt him and say “this isn’t a me company this is a we company”.
Getting back to the book, Yossarian has decided not to fly anymore missions. Colonel Somethingoranother decides to send him to the whorehouses of Rome. Yossarian finds the whore who loved Nately, and tells her of his death. The whore, who apparently does not have a name, does not take the news well. She tries to stab Yossarian with a bread knife.
The concept of Nately’s whore trying to kill Yossarian continues for the rest of the book. She follows him back to the base, and someone takes her to Northern Italy, straps a parachute on her, and throws her out of the plane. A few days later, NW is back on the base, trying to kill Yossarian. PG suspects that Mr. Heller was having a tough time tying up the loose ends of the story, and had to get creative. It makes for good reading, but you need to disconnect your reality meter.
Unplugging the reality detector is a good idea when dealing with Bret Easton Ellis. He hit the big time with “Less Than Zero” extended his fifteen minutes with “American Psycho”. (with the help of a brilliant marketing campaign) He has written a few more books. The Chamblee library has some of his novels, and they are fun to read. Those characters, and probably Mr. Ellis, do more cocaine in fifteen minutes, before breakfast, than PG has done in his life.
Lately, BEE has become a star twitterwit. He shares these 140 character gems with anyone bored enough to read them. If you get lazy, you can always skip ahead.
@BretEastonEllis And “Breaking Bad” is the most overrated TV series in the history of television. Even though I want to bang the kid with cerebral palsy.
@BretEastonEllis Billy Wilder’s belief that screenplay is ALL is what limits him as a great filmmaker. Why so many artists go with this idea is depressing.
@BretEastonEllis It’s what makes filmmakers and screenwriters kneel at the alter of Billy Wilder. The flaw of his movies is that script is God. It’s NOT.
@BretEastonEllis The fallacy of the theory that TV is better than the best movies is that people believe that WRITING is EVERYTHING when in fact it isn’t.
@BretEastonEllis And please don’t use “The Wire” as an example. Yes, it’s the greatest TV series ever made. But it’s a TV series. It’s not “Vertigo” guys…
@BretEastonEllis Empire irony: Twin Peaks. Post-Empire earnestness: The Killing. I’m not sure which one is more misguided. Insomnia and Ambien: key factors.
@BretEastonEllis Insomnia encourages binge-TV-watching of The Killing and because I’m an addict I’ll have to watch the entire 1st season in the next 5 hours.
@BretEastonEllis Louie hits its third season stride in episodes 4 and 5 where Parker Posey gives an astonishing performance. Ignore earlier comments. Ambien.
@BretEastonEllis Note to self: do NOT take Ambien because of current insomnia situation and start tweeting about favorite records from the 1970s. Delete.
@BretEastonEllis Fifty Shades of Grey: during meeting someone said maybe a female screenwriter would work better. “But I AM a female screenwriter!” I gasped.
‏@BenjoDiMeo Got 50 Shades of Grey just cause @BretEastonEllis is tweeting everyday bout it. I’ll be damned if this isnt the worst book I’ve ever read
‏@olilyttelton Is Bret Easton Ellis trying to break some kind of world record for being wrong about the most things in the shortest space of time?
@mrseanpatton @BretEastonEllis hey you should write another novel instead of tweeting your opinion of TV shows. Seriously.
‏@HrtySpice following Bret Easton Ellis on twitter is a serious excercise in patience and hair removal
XXXIX The Eternal City If Federico Fellini was filming Catch 22, it would have a scene like this chapter. Fellini films were always about an hour too long, and would have been more enjoyable with a box office minded suit editing them.
Yossarian is worried about the kid sister of Nately’s whore. He goes to Rome, without a pass, to try and find her. Milo is going to help, but he is distracted by the prospect of making money selling illegal tobacco. What’s good for M&M Enterprises is good for the country.
Rome is a pretty gnarly place in this chapter. The whorehouse has been broken up, by officials claiming Catch 22 as their justification. The whores are scattered around town, the old man is dead, and the old lady is in shock. Yossarian leaves the house to go into the streets, where rape, murder, and dog beating are happening everywhere. Mike Vick is running for a touchdown, only to have it called back for Catch 22 before the snap.
Yossarian goes by another house, and sees a familiar face, laying dead in the street. It seems like Aarfy was in the house, having raped the lady, and killed her by defenestration. Yossarian is horrified, and goes into the house to berate Aarfy.
Soon military police are knocking on the door. They apologize to Aarfy for bothering him, and arrest Yossarian for being AWOL. When Yossarian gets back to the base, Colonel Korn announces that Yossarian is going home.
PG participates in a group called Gay Spirit Visions. The “mission statement” of this group says “We are committed to creating safe, sacred space that is open to all spiritual paths,” A few years ago, there was a controversy about having a Christian workshop at a retreat. To PG the inclusion of the Christian path would compromise the safe space. Here are some of the postings.
chamblee54 Wed Oct 19, 2005 11:32 am
A few months ago, there was an issue over alcohol at potluck suppers. It seems as though some of our brethren are “in recovery” and do not wish to be around demon rum. This was no sacrifice to me, as I am a retired drinker. However, my sobriety is not threatened by other people drinking, and I would hate to tell someone else that they could not imbibe because of my drinking problem.
Now, how does this relate to Jesus Worship? To me, Jesus and Alcohol are very similar. Some can use either “substance” in moderation. Some lose control and do horrible things.
There is a third similarity of Jesus and Alcohol….neither one works for me.
This is a very emotional, touchy, non rational issue. When I saw the picture of Jesus on the cover of the Visionary, I felt a kick in my gut. My negative feelings toward Jesus are that strong. Just hearing the name Jesus ( with or without the Southern Accent) reminds me of the threats, verbal abuse, and humiliation I have suffered in his name.
Maybe we need to examine this policy of being open to all paths.
Jesus is not just another religion. He is the dominant religion in our culture, and has hurt many of us deeply. If we are to invite Jesus into our circle, we should do it very carefully.
What Would Jesus Do? Go to the water cooler and get a glass of wine.
jaxhairyman2Wed Oct 19, 2005 1:18 pm
THAT was one of the more stupid things I ever read. Exclude Christianity because of the association between Jesus and alcohol, or Jesus and a bad childhood association??? Was the writer on crack? That is like thinking no Jew should drive a BMW or Mercedes because it is a German car.
chamblee54 Wed Oct 19, 2005 2:24 pm
No I am not on crack. I am not saying we should exclude jesus worship, although I wouldn’t miss it. Jesus is a source of misery in my life. Jesus is verbal abuse, humiliation, ruined friendships, and ego tripping loudmouths. Right now, we have alcohol free potlucks out of consideration for men in recovery. I was raising the point that we should consider a “jesus free” potluck out of consideration for men who are likewise in recovery.
I feel that the tone of your reply is indicative of the aggressive, thoughtless nature of many jesus worshipers. Jesus worship is no ordinary religion. No other religion stirs the ill will that jesus worship does. Many of us have been hurt very badly because of jesus worship and jesus, and we should be careful when introducing this poison into our fellowship.
As for the issue of whether a Jew should drive a German car…this is not a car club. If a Jew doesn’t want to drive a German car, or a Korean does not want a Japanese car, that should be their privilege. Likewise, if I do not want to be confronted with an offensive religion, that should be my privilege.
chamblee54 Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:24 am
Here are a few more thoughts on the jesus issue, while I am waiting for the crack house to open
1- Is the problem jesus or jesus worshipers? A lot of the comments I have seen, both recently and in the “real” world, like to make excuses for jesus and place the blame entirely on jesus worshipers. Could it be that the problem is jesus? What do we mean when we say jesus? Is it the historic figure in the bible, or a vague spirit that lives in the hearts of people, and is different for all believers? When we blame jesus worshipers rather than jesus, are we contributing to the conflict between believer and non believer? In my opinion (overpriced at two cents) jesus is the problem. Many jesus worshipers are good people who have put their faith in an overrated spirit.
2- Does the first commandment forbid bible worship and jesus worship? Should this matter to us? You are all intelligent men. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be reading this. You can decide this for yourself.
3- Arguments about jesus are not spiritually fulfilling. In fact, they are painful and unpleasant, and lead to much ill will between neighbors, and ill will for jesus.
4- I like the fact that this is a men group, and I do not have to use gender inclusive language.
5- One of you writes “run away from it, hide and try to banish any mention of it from your existence”. If only it were that simple. One of the problems with many jesus worshipers is that they simply will not shut up. They are like dogs that will not quit barking. While I am not saying we should never say the j word, I would suggest that we show some sensitivity to those of us who are allergic to jesus.
6- Islam is a very close second to jesus worship in terms of generating obnoxious behavior, and may in fact be worse. It should also be noted that two wrongs do not make a right. Also, if the first commandment outlaws bible worship, would it not include the quaran as well?
7- While I am discussing the ten commandments, Let’s talk about the third. This is about the use of sacred names. The third commandment is a lot more than gods last name. The g word should be used with kindness and reverence, or not at all. The third commandment does not include a pledge of allegiance to a nationalist symbol.
8- What do we mean by “all spiritual paths”? A jihad ? Doorknob worship? Pastafarianism (noodle worship)? Could alcohol use be considered a spiritual path? After all it does involve spirits. And, we have already banished this from our gatherings, out of respect for those in recovery. Do we really need those seven words (that is open to all spiritual paths.) in the mission statement? “We are committed to creating safe, sacred space for loving gay men to explore and strengthen our spiritual identity”…. Do we really need to gild the lily by adding on to that? Also, if we introduce elements into our gathering that are offensive to some of our neighbors…like alcohol and jesus…do we compromise the safety and sacredness of the space?
9- Just one more line, and this is a top ten list.
10- Last summer I led a ritual, where some of our guest were the four gods and the seven goddesses. The seven goddesses are Isis, Astarte, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Iana, Diana. The four gods are jesus, buddah, mohammed, and elvis. Jesus was very well behaved and did not cause any trouble.
XL Catch 22 This chapter is where the story gets downright far fetched. Colonels Korn and Cathcart offer Yossarian a deal. Instead of a court martial, they send him home. The only thing Yossarian has to do is like the two slimy bastards. The deal is odious. Yossarian accepts the deal.
As Yossarian walks out of the meeting, he encounters Nately’s whore, dressed as a Private. She lunges at him, and stabs him in the side.
PG collects quotes for use in compilations. Many, though not all, are from facebook. Here are a few, with one from Chapter forty included.
I like someone who is as proud of his ability to listen as he is the clever things that he says.(fb)
G-d is in the details
Really dreading the flurry of obligatory niceties tomorrow. I appreciate being acknowledged, but what I’d REALLY like is for people to want to do stuff with me, and to want that enough to try to make such plans ahead of time such that it might conceivably happen. Figuring out my very consistent schedule would be a nice touch too. I probly won’t respond to birthday wishes tomorrow. I’ll be too busy trying really hard to actually have that happy birthday, despite it being a day full of doctor’s appointments for me and mine, leading up to a weekend of missing out on various fun things for lack of funds. And having a bunch of randomly occurring bullshit phone conversations where I act happy that somebody’s automatic reminder function prompted them to fulfill a perceived social obligation would make my birthday a lot less fun for me. If I’m not worth spending time with in real life, please just don’t even bother with a cheerful birthday greeting. (fb)
Wie wil het nou niet? Erotisch contact met honderden of zelfs duizenden vrouwen, mannen en stellen. Iedereen toch? Voor de lekkerste dates zit je dan ook goed bij ons.
“The men were perfectly content to fly as many missions as we asked them as long as they thought they had no alternative. Now you’ve given them hope, and they’re unhappy. So the blame is all yours.”
“I hope you don’t have friends who recommend Ayn Rand to you. The fiction of Ayn Rand is as low as you can get re fiction. I hope you picked it up off the floor of the subway and threw it in the nearest garbage pail. She makes Mickey Spillane look like Dostoevsky.” ~Flannery O’Connor (fb)
“Thanks for taking time out of your busy booger-eating schedule to comment..” ~ My favorite retort to a comments board troll. (fb)
Today i received a phone call from my bank stating my identity had been stolen. I asked them how they knew, and they said because my credit score went up. (fb)
Before I closed the word file, the machine asked me: “Save changes to The Perfect Church “?
This web page at http://www.awkwardboners.com has been reported as an attack page and has been blocked based on your security preferences.
WHAT IF instead of exhausting our finances on church ski trips we wore holes in our pants on church knee trips?
My unfavorite phrase is mainstream media, or msm. It doesn’t anger me so much as it makes me lose respect for the person who uses it. If this person works for Cox Enterprises or News Corporation, and they complain about MSM, then they are talking about themselves. News Corporation, the parent of Fox news, is as mainsteam as it is possible to be.
XLI Snowden Yossarian wakes up in the hospital. Two doctors are threatening to commit surgery, over what is apparently a minor wound. After that crisis is over, Yossarian tells the Chaplain about his deal. The man of G-d is horrified.
Soon, Yossarian is by himself, in the dark, nasty hospital. There is no one to tell him the time. As Catcher in the rye readers know, this tells us that Nurse Duckett is not there. Soon, Yossarian falls asleep, and begins to dream about the mission where Snowdon is killed.
Soon, the blood and guts are flying everywhere. Yossarian tries to help Snowden in his misery, but makes one dumb mistake after another. One of the themes of this book is that none of the deaths were because of enemy competence. Every American who dies in this story does so because of stupidity and mistakes on the part of the allies. The Vietnam expression was friendly fire.
“He felt goose pimples clacking all over him as he gazed down despondently at the grim secret Snowden had spilled all over the messy floor. It was easy to read the message in his entrails. Man was matter, that was Snowden’s secret. Drop him out a window and he’ll fall. Set fire to him and he’ll burn. Bury him and he’ll rot, like other kinds of garbage. The spirit gone, man is garbage. That was Snowden’s secret. Ripeness was all. “
A few months ago, a young man went into a store in Southwest Atlanta. When he left, he was attacked by three men. The incident was taped by a fourth man, who kept yelling “no faggots in jack city”. The video was posted on the internet, and became the sensation of the day. Later, the attackers were arrested, and some “community leaders” were calling for leniency. Here are some comments floating around the innertubes.
Lets be honest here, The Brandon was not permanently injured and the word is that Brandon knew those guys and possibly had an affair with one or more of the “attackers”. They were upset because they were about to be exposed on being on the “down low”. (Being on the “down low” in Atlanta is so COMMON that it is a trend going out of style,) 5 yrs prison and 5yrs parole is WAY more than enough. Lets put this to sleep and keep it moving. The gay rights people shoved the case down our throats enough
If Brandon White were beaten by a group of white thugs, those same Reps would be calling for a lifetime of imprisonment. But no. Because the thugs were from the hood, “leaders” beg for leniency.
i knew all this was a hoax anyway. this is atlanta were talking about, where it seems nearly all of the black men either are openly gay or secretly taking it in the ass. either way, it’s still fruity as hell, and they can all go somewhere with their sweet asses!!!! this is a non issue. there are more important issues in the black community than 3 down low ass niggas beating down a fruity ass nigga simply because he wants to expose their double lifestyles. atlanta is something else!!!!
Ok, Jay. You’re right. Put them in jail for 10 years and forget about them. They’re just young black men, anyway, right?
XLII Yossarian This is it. Chapter forty two is named for the hero, and is the last chapter. The last sentence is “The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off.” Nately’s whore will not give up, and once again she almost cops Yossarian’s life.
Yossarian is talking to the Major Danby. Yossarian wants to renege on the deal, which he finds odious. There are serious doubts on whether or not the Colonels would go through with their end of the bargain. They were never given the chance.
After a while, the Chaplain bursts into the conversation. It seems like Orr is alive. When last heard from, his boat was not rescued after a plane crash. It turns out that Orr has rowed his little boat from the Italian coast to a safe haven. In Sweden. This is about as believable as the repeated appearance of Nately’s whore at the base. .
Yossarian is inspired by the epic voyage of Orr, and decides to emulate it. He is going to go AWOL, go to Rome, and find his way to Sweden. Or somewhere. He will not let the German Army, the American Army, The Russian Army, or the British Army from stopping him. Major Danby tries to discourage him, while the Chaplain cheers him on. Finally, he steps out of the hospital, dodges one last attempted murder by Nately’s whore, and the book is over.
This is a rather unsatisfactory end. One gets the feeling that Mr. Heller was spinning this long tale of wartime insanity, and needed to find a way to end it. There is a sequel, Closing Time: The Sequel to Catch-22. The twice divorced Yossarian is living in New York, and hangs out with Milo Minderbinder.
This may have been the longest book reading ever for PG. The previous longest was Infinite Jest, which kept getting renewed at the library. After taking twelve weeks to go 600 pages, PG gave up. Just because you like to read, that doesn’t mean you like to carve faces out of stone.
The situation with Catch 22 is a bit different. This is a book that should be taken slowly, to appreciate the atmosphere and use of language. What really slowed PG down was reading with one eye. For the last two months, reading has meant letting the right eye outshine the fuzz from the left eye. There was an eye doctor appointment yesterday, and that situation is looking much better. No treatment was given yesterday, and in another month we will see what we see. The fact that insurance has decided not to pay for the office visits takes a bit of the joy away.
It is not known whether, or not, PG will attempt another book appreciation like this one. The odds are that eventually the hassle of putting this thing together will fade away, and another multi part book report will appear in Chamblee54.

PG had set up an outdoor office. He ignored the insulting chatter of the birds, and set about writing something. But, first things first, he had to go inside and get more coffee.
The new space was a glorious concept. It took time to put together. There is a stone circle in the back yard, It has a five foot radius in the middle. The walls are about twenty four inches high, and are piled three to four deep with all types of stone. This was a project that PG built seven years ago, with a patina of magnolia leaves that will never be fully cleared. It was nice to look at, but useless.
There was an outdoor table thrown away on Dresden Drive. It was a good height to work on, and had a 24″ circular top. There was a layer of salmon colored tiles, set in mortar, on the top. The table had been left outside for too long, and showed it. Many of the tiles are missing. The underside of the top has layers of rust that flake off when you touch it. It was almost perfect.
The laptop revolution had taken it’s time to get to Parkridge Drive. One thing PG has not adjusted to is the keyboard on the number two machine. It just is not any good. Fortunately, there was an old keyboard that could be recycled. It was a 2000 model compaq, with a row of useless buttons on top. Those buttons add a couple of inches to the width, and when you try to fit everything you need on a 24″ circle, those two inches hurt. (That’s what someone said last night.)
It is all going to work. The plug in mouse is a trackball, and does not need much room. The new office is set in the middle of the stone circle, and the feng shui is so groovy it hurts. It is time to write.
The text in part two is a repost. It is about football. PG is not afraid to talk about religion, but it is best to do so before the fervor reaches the peak of tribal frenzy. This is why the post about the downside of football is posted in August. The official season has not started, much less the January playoff frenzy. If you said during Super Bowl week that season tickets require the ritual sacrifice of your firstborn daughter, Pittsburgh fans would consider that a fair bargain.
The post below is about the physical cost of football. There are statistics about emergency room visits and knee injuries. This cost is horrific, and would not be tolerated in almost any other activity.
There is another cost to football. This is the palatial stadiums that the NFL pressures teams into building. At this time, there is a new stadium going up in California. It will be used about a dozen times a year for the forty niners. The cost of this new facility is enormous. To help pay for it, season ticket fans will have to buy something called a personal seat license. This is a document that they need to buy season tickets. This license will cost eighty thousand dollars. When PG googled the phrase Personal Seat License, one of the options was Personal Seat License Tax Deduction. What a wonderful world.
Out of fairness for billionaires, PG decided to check out the Niner PSL price. Only *one percent* of the seats will cost $80k. “This week , the team began to charge between $20,000 and $30,000 for a Stadium Builders License (SBL) for a Club seat. A fan will then have to pay between $325 and $375 per ticket per game. SBLs are akin to the Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs) used by many teams.”
This goes on everywhere. In Atlanta, where the Falcons have won five less Super Bowls than the Niners, there is talk about building a new stadium. The Georgia Dome is only twenty years old. To get it built, the birds threatened to move to Jacksonville. A new hotel motel tax was installed, despite the Georgia governor running on a campaign promise of no new taxes. The local sewers continue to deteriorate, the roads and trains are falling apart, the schools produce junkies and Jesusmongers, and yet these people have the gall to demand a new stadium for a team that could not get into the second round of the playoffs if Rankin Blank’s bankbook depended on it.
The NFL is not the only guilty party. College football tears up young bodies too. These young men are supposed to be amateurs, while the schools rake in the bucks. They get drug tested so they can go on TV and sell beer. As the late Furman Bisher said, if you are keeping a box score on hypocrisy…
Pictures for today are by Chamblee54. They were taken at a dance performance. A personal seat license was not required. This post was written like David Foster Wallace. PG admires the work of Mr. Wallace, but does not consider him a role model. The spell check suggestion for PSL is PAL.

Football is just around the corner. The teams are busy with the pre season, and soon weekends will be full of hitting and drinking. Perhaps this is a good time to wonder whether football is worth the human cost. Especially now, with a national debate raging about the future of our health care. Football injuries keep hospitals hopping during the autumn.
This is a recycled post. There is a helping of hypocrisy here, as PG enjoys watching the hits.
Football season is here. While the games are fun to watch, the players are paying the price. Your health insurance premiums just might be affected.
Football is a contact sport. On every play, the linemen block other lineman to keep them from tackling a back. Someone gets hit on every play. Most of these hits are “clean” and cause only bruises. Some are “dirty”, and cause injuries. Even the clean hits can hurt someone.
There are an estimated 187,000 emergency room visits every year are due to football. What if an illegal drug sent 187k to the er annually? There would be a hue and cry to kill the pushers.
Knee injuries are especially prevalent. An estimated 45,000 knee operations are performed each year due to football injuries. Arthroscopy is a wonderful invention.
With all those helmets slamming into each other, head injuries occur. “The researchers found that there is approximately one catastrophic head injury per every 150,000 athletes playing, or 7 catastrophic injuries yearly. There were 0.67 injuries per 100,000 players at the high school level and 0.21 injuries per 100,000 for college level football players.” Often, the coaches get caught up in the do or die spirit of a big game, and don’t get the player the medical attention that he needs. “Football is a very macho sport. Athletes are taught to play through pain,” …“But concussions range in severity and symptoms, so all a player may experience is a headache several hours after impact. High school players need to be educated in these symptoms and encouraged to self report.”
Even cheerleading squads are reporting more injuries, due to botched stunts.
When you see the players in their youthful glory, you don’t think what they will look like after they quit playing. Many players know this, but the lure of today’s glory justifies the pain of tomorrow. The heroes of yesterday often walk with pain today.