Chamblee54

In 1993, PG got a futon at a yard sale. It seemed like a good idea. He paid $15 for the mat and frame.
In the nineties, PG had a 450 square foot apartment. It was the second floor of a 1948 era cape cod house, with a parade of neighbors downstairs. PG had back issues, and slept on a foam rubber pad. The futon did not agree with his back. After several attempts at usage, the futon was stored on top of the queen size mattress in the bedroom. The prop up frame went into the carport.
This arrangement worked well until PG had to move. The landlord had three teenage daughters, and decided to sell the rental property to a developer. A mcmansion is on the site today. The house that PG grew up in was a five minute walk away, and was the logical place to go.
Futons are trouble to move. They are heavy. They are not stable. It is like carrying a fifty pound sack of potatoes, that is forty eight inches long. The only effective way to move it is to wrap both arms around it, and drag it to the next location. Think of slow dancing with a linebacker on quaaludes.
In the new house, there was no place for the futon. Another attempt was made at sleeping on it, and the spine cried out in protest. The futon was rolled up, and held in place with bungee cords. It was stood up, and strapped onto the end of a shelf.
A few days ago, PG decided he needed a big chair for reading and television. He grabbed a few cushions … another leftover from the old apartment… put them on some milk cartons, and called it a chair. A few items of furniture needed to be moved around.
After the requisite cleaning of all the rearranged furniture…where does all that dust come from … the futon stood out like a forty eight inch sore thumb. There was still room at the end of the utility shelf. There was also a spot at the curb. PG made a sign, free futon, and slow danced the futon to the street. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

1992 was a year for PG. His father died in February. In July, PG went to Europe. It was a bad, bad year for friends with aids. Several were recruited by the grim reaper.
By the time December 1 came around, PG was ready for another year. In those days, PG was working in an architect office downtown, and had lots of free time. There was a rally for World Aids Day at the state capitol, and PG saw a chance for free entertainment. A podium was set up in the rotunda, and a series of speakers declaimed. One man said to use a condom every time you FUCK. He seemed to enjoy screaming the F word in the state capitol.
A man named Doug Teper spoke. He was the only state legislator to speak, and he criticized the organizers for not inviting him. Later, PG … who lived in Mr. Teper’s district … asked him for a business card. Mr. Teper forgot to bring his business cards. ( PG was standing next to Mr. Teper when a speaker demanded health care for everyone. PG leaned over and said, how are we going to pay for this? Mr. Teper shrugged.)
PG saw a person named Gene at the rally, and went to talk to him. Years earlier, when Betty Ford was the first lady, PG was joking with a friend. PG said something about how black people all look alike. Gene, who was African American, heard this joke.
A couple of years after the rally, PG saw an obituary for Gene.

Alan Burnett // Bill Medlock// Bill Meneely// Blaze Mills// Buddy Conine// Calvin Bunn//
Danny Fields// David Chewning// David Hadden// Dixie// Dwight Dunaway//
Freeman Waldrop// Gary Hunton// Gene Haynes// Gene Holloway//  Gibson Higgins//
Glenn Krause// Greg Scott// Harold King// Hawk// Jerry Pyschka// Jim Anderson//
Jim Woodward// Joe Kenney// Joe Vickery// John Harllee// John Kelly// Jon Gordon//
King Thackston// Larry Jackson// Layton Gregory// Lee Mullis// Les Friessen// Mac Wilson//
Manfred Ibis// Mark Keenum// Mark Rosen// Michael Dollins // Micheal Mason// Moon Moore//
O’Gene Donohue// Purl Sudds//  Sam Mitchell // Skeeter Smith// Steve Bedworth//
Stuart Davis// Ti Barfield// Tim Jeffries// Tom Aderhold// Tom Selman// Tom Williams //
Trion// Winston Morriss//

Democracy Now has a chat today with Peter Van Buren. He is the author of We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People . It is the story of the bungled reconstruction effort in Iraq. The State department is not pleased.
According to Mr. Van Buren, the efforts to rebuild Iraq, after the shock and awe destruction, have been a big government mess. Conservatives are fond of saying that the government makes a mess of everything it tries to do. These are the same conservatives who supported the war in Iraq. 170k troops, in a country eight time zones away, has always sounded like big government.
“Sitting here in Washington, it is almost hard for me to imagine the things that we spent money on. In our clumsy attempts to buy love, to make friends, to win over the Iraqis, we sponsored pastry making classes is for Iraqi widows, we handed out gifts of sheep and bees in hopes that Iraqis would pick these things up and make a living from them. We spent $2.5 million on a chicken processing plant that never processed any chicken. We give driving lessons to women. We painted murals on the sides of gymnasiums. We handed out bicycles to children that they were supposed to ride on streets that were so pockmarked with shell craters that you could not take a car down them.”
Currently, Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq. Mr. Van Buren says, among other things, that the visit is a “victory lap”. The money quote: “I would like to propose that no VIP be allowed to go to Iraq, certainly not to announce anything using the words “victory” or “success” until he or she is willing to do that on an announced visit with the airplane landing in the day time. As long as the visits have to be kept secret and the planes have to land at night, I would like to suggest we not use the words “victory,” “success,” “completion” or anything equivalent.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress .

The National Defense Authorization Act is before congress now. This is the law which authorizes money for military activity. There is language hidden in this law that would allow the military to take citizens into detention, if they are suspected of terror activity. Democracy Now has a segment on this legislation.
The use of the military as a police force is forbidden by the Posse Comitatus Act. This law was passed in 1878, as reconstruction was winding down. There is an unwritted law in America that everything is about race. Why the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 Should Be Repealed states : “Posse Comitatus was passed in the wake of the collapse of Reconstruction in order to prevent the federal government from challenging southern states oppression of their black population. It was a license to the Ku Klux Klan and related organizations to murder and lynch at will, knowing that the federal government would be hamstrung in its ability to stop them.”
The PCA has become weaker over the years. Major Craig T. Trebilcock notes : “One of the most controversial uses of the military during the past 20 years has been to involve the Navy and Air Force in the “war on drugs.” Recognizing the inability of civilian law enforcement agencies to interdict the smuggling of drugs into the United States by air and sea, the Reagan Administration directed the Department of Defense to use naval and air assets to reach out beyond the borders of the United States to preempt drug smuggling. This use of the military in antidrug law enforcement was approved by Congress in 10 U.S.C., sections 371–381. This same legislation permitted the use of military forces in other traditionally civilian areas—immigration control and tariff enforcement.”
The article by Major Trebilcock was written in 2000. He mentions “The Oklahoma City bombing and the unsuccessful attempt to topple the World Trade Center have our domestic security planners looking inward for threats against the soil of the United States from small but technologically advanced threats of highly motivated terrorists. What legal bar does the Posse Comitatus Act present today to using the military to prevent or respond to a biological or chemical attack on the soil of the United States? In view of the erosion of the Posse Comitatus Act,… the answer is “not much.”
Pictures, of Union Soldiers from the War Between the States, are from The Library of Congress

PG has read the autobiography of Mick Fleetwood. If this had been a made up tale of fiction, no one would believe it. Mick is not the manufacturer of enemas, nor the namesake of a Cadillac Model. The possibility does exist that he has used those two products.
John Mayall gave his guitar player, Peter Green, some studio time as a birthday present. “The Green God” used a rhythm section from the Bluesbreakers, Mick Fleetwood (drums) and John McVie (bass). At the end of the day, Mr. Green wrote “Fleetwood Mac” on the can holding the tapes.
Before long, Mr. Green started his own band, and named it after the rhythm section. ( Does anyone know the bass player and drummer of the Atlanta Rhythm Section?) Fleetwood Mac started as a blues band, and became popular in England. Mr. Fleetwood celebrated by getting together with Jenny Boyd, who became his wife. Miss Boyd is the sister of Patti Boyd, the wife of George Harrison, aka Layla.
The first Fleetwood Mac album in the USA was “Then Play On”. The first show in Atlanta was at the Oglethorpe University gym, and by all accounts was a wild night. PG saw the sign advertising the event, but did not attend.
About the time of “Then Play On”, Peter Green started to get a bit weird. He dropped out of the band, but Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan were still playing guitars. For a little while. Jeremy Spencer took a walk outside a Los Angeles hotel, and got recruited by the Children of G-d. Danny Kirwan had some issues, and decided to leave the band. Bob Welch stopped by for a few years, joined by Christine McVie, the wife of John.
The band was managed at this time by Clifford Davies, who by all accounts was a nasty piece of work. A man named Bob Weston had joined the band, and lasted until he had an affair with Jenny Fleetwood. Mr. Weston was fired, and a tour canceled. Clifford Davies decided that he owned the name Fleetwood Mac, and hired a group of players to go out and do shows. Fleetwood and the Mcvies were not amused, and Mick Fleetwood took over as the manager of the band.
By 1974, the band was pushing along, and selling about 300,000 copies of each album. On Halloween night 1974, Fleetwood Mac played at the Omni with Jefferson Starship. PG was at the Municipal Auditorium that night, seeing Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt.
In late 1974 Mick was looking for a studio. He came to a place, and an album came on the speakers, Mick was impressed by the guitar player. Soon after, Bob Welch felt the need to leave the band, and Mick thought the guitar player he heard at the studio was a good fit. (The band never did auditions, just asked people they liked to join). The guitar player was Lindsay Buckingham, and his girlfriend/musical partner was Stevie Nicks. This was the band that set sales records.
The first album with Buckingham/Nicks, simply titled “Fleetwood Mac”, became a phenomenon. The band was soon headlining in stadiums, and was on every fm radio station in the land. The band went into the studio to record a follow up. The second album took over a year to produce, and saw the McVies and the Fleetwoods get divorced. Buckingham and Nicks split their common law arrangement. Out of the turmoil came “Rumours”, which has sold roughly thirty million copies.
On August 29, 1978, PG got to see Fleetwood Mac at the Omni. Mick Fleetwood was on top of his game, pounding the skins with a glee that could be seen from the cheap seats. Fleetwood was a highlight, standing two meters tall and creating havoc on the drum stand.
Reading the book tells the rest of the story. Fleetwood’s father had died earlier that summer, and Mick was devastated. The band was straining under the pressures of super duper stardom. Mick had attempted a reconciliation with his wife, which was a painful failure. There was an affair between Mick and Stevie Nicks at this time. The idea that Mick Fleetwood could perform like he did that night tells you what a trooper he was.
The story continues. The book was written in 1991. There might be a volume two. This is a repost.

Glenn Greenwald was on Democracy Now this morning. (Spell check suggestion: Walgreen)
“If you look back at what the Congress did in the wake of 9/11 when it enacted the authorization to use military force, if you look at that authorization, it’s incredibly narrow, as it turns out. If you go and actually read it, it says the President is authorized to use military force against those who perpetrated the 9/11 attack and those countries who harbored those individuals. That’s it, that’s the only authorized use of military force.”
Pictures by The Library of Congress .

Today’s mondo monday post is a double feature. The first part is a repost. The second part is an email that PG recieved this morning. HT to Uzi. Both deal with the Xmas season, and how far the acorn has fallen from the tree. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress .
The day after thanksgiving is the official start of the christmas season. The last few years, PG has been weary of the turf fighting of the Jesus worshipers The jws like to think that they are the only ones entitled to a holiday celebration. It gets nasty.
The truth is, as long as PG remembers, Christmas has been a secular holiday with a religious element. The parties and gift giving are a great way to wind up the year. The so called birth of Jesus really has very little to do with it.
In the early days of christianism, the pagan romans had a major celebration around the winter solstice. This is the longest night, and the end of the annual cycle of birth, death, and revival. The early Jesus worshipers decided to have a comparable celebration. It is uncertain when Jesus was technically born, and many scholars today believe that it was sometime in the spring.
For a long time, PG was able to ignore the religious hoopla, and focus on the joy of the season. In recent years, the Jesus Worshipers have made more of an issue out of the “War on Christmas”. Bill O’Reilly, with his instinct for a divisive issue, has been a ringleader. Where once the secular and religious people could celebrate a happy season together…and, truth be told, many still do… there is a now a conflict. The Jesus worshipers make an exclusive claim to the festivities, and those who don’t agree with them are out of luck. It has become a fighting issue whether to say happy holidays or merry christmas. PG would like to get back to peace on earth, and good will towards men.


CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS BEFORE LEAVING THE CASHIER’S STATION! With all the Christmas shopping soon this is something we MUST do! I bought a bunch of stuff, over $150, & I glanced at my receipt as the cashier was handing me the bags. I saw a cash-back of $40. I told her I didn’t request a cash back and to delete it. She said I’d have to take the $40 because she couldn’t delete it. I told her to call a supervisor. Supervisor came and said I’d have to take it. I said NO! I didn’t want $40 cash advance! If they couldn’t delete it then they would have to delete the whole order. So the supervisor had the cashier delete the whole order and re-scan everything! When I looked at the electronic pad before I signed again, a cash-back of $20 popped up. At that point I told the cashier and she deleted it. The total then came out right. The cashier commented that the Electronic Pad must be defective. Obviously the cashier knew the electronic pad was defective because she NEVER offered me the $40 at the beginning. Can you imagine how many people went through before me and at the end of her shift how much money she pocketed?
Alert everyone. My co-worker went to Walmart last week. She had her items rung up by the cashier. The cashier hurried her along and didn’t give her a receipt. She asked the cashier for a receipt and the cashier was annoyed and gave it to her. My co-worker didn’t look at her receipt until later that night. The receipt had a $20 cash back entry . SHE HAD NOT ASKED FOR CASH BACK!
My co-worker subsequently called Wal-Mart who investigated but could not see the cashier pocket the money. She then called her niece who works for the bank, and her niece told her this: This is new scam going on. The cashier will key in that you asked for cash back and then hand it to her friend who is the next person in line.
CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS RIGHT AWAY WHEN USING CREDIT OR DEBIT CARDS! This is NOT limited to Wal-Mart, although they are the largest retailer so they have the most incidents. Here’s a personal experience: My husband and I were in Wal-Mart North Salisbury and paying with credit card when my husband went to sign the credit card signer he just happen to notice there was a $20 cash back added. He told the cashier that he did not ask nor want cash back and she said that the machine had been messing up and she canceled it. We really didn’t think anything of it until we read this email. I wonder how many “seniors” or busy Moms/Dads have been or will be “stung” by this one? To make matters worse, this scam can be done anywhere, at any retail or wholesale location! Check your receipt BEFORE leaving the cashier’s station!

The plan was to go hiking in Sweetwater Creek state park. The problem is, the weather radar showed serious rain moving in from Alabama. Last night, the storm had been over the Mississippi River, and now it was in east Alabama. It was just a hop skip and jump from Douglas county. PG called the friend he was going to ride with, and cancelled.
The next move was to go on the roof, and clean the gutters. It turns out a limb fell on the roof, and tore up a roofing shingle. PG walked up to Lowe’s, got the roof glue, and a package of latex gloves. (NEVER apply roof shingle glue without gloves.) A few minutes later, the roof was in better shape. The rain had not arrived, and the storm seemed to stall at the state line. The people who went hiking are having a great time. You make your decisions, and you live with them.
It has been a while since sticker pictures were posted. PG makes faux stained glass pictures. For the colors, he uses sticker paper and tape. The hobby gives him a great deal of satisfaction. Trying to sell the images is a good idea for a later date.

Andrew Sullivan wears flame resistant britches. There is a story at his place about a man who has developed software called truth goggles. It works in conjunction with a service called PolitiFact, and will highlight questionable verbiage.
You’re reading a wrap-up of the Sept. 22 Republican presidential debate when you land on this claim from Rep. Michele Bachmann: “President Obama has the lowest public approval ratings of any president in modern times.” Really? You start googling for evidence. Maybe you scour the blogs or the fact-checking sites. It takes work, all that critical thinking.
That’s why Dan Schultz … is building what he calls truth goggles — not actual magical eyewear, alas, but software that flags suspicious claims in news articles and helps readers determine their truthiness. It’s possible because of a novel arrangement: Schultz struck a deal with fact-checker PolitiFact for access to its private APIs.
If you had the truth goggles installed and came across Bachmann’s debate claim, the suspicious sentence might be highlighted. You would see right away that the congresswoman’s pants were on fire. And you could explore the data to discover that Bachmann, in fact, wears some of the more flammable pants in politics.
The POTUS approval rating is a meaningless statistic. The veracity of PAR is suspect. If a person tells a lie, about a lie, is that double negative the truth?
The only certain truth is that people tell lies. Attempts to scientifically measure truth are highly problematic. Even if truth goggles were installed on every media device, there would be an issue whether to use a liberal or conservative database. Maybe you should to learn how to think.
Pictures from The Library of Congress . Text is profanity free.

This is the annual Helen Philpot Thanksgiving letter. Her grandson did a good job this year. Dear Family, We lost your Grandpa this year and suddenly everyone wants to be together for the holidays. Well isn’t that just the shit. I hope you all learned your lesson. Treasure your family while they are still here – not after they are gone. Life is a series of lessons. Pay attention. Now about Thanksgiving… Your Aunt Trudy thinks that just because Thanksgiving dinner is at her house this year, I am not in charge. Well bless her heart. Here are the rules: 1- This year Cloe’s jello crap is fine by me. Trudy’s gravy is always a little thin for my taste. A little jello might thicken it up a bit. 2- I respect the cook, but 99% of us respect good food even more. I reserve the right to occupy the kitchen and add an extra stick or two of butter to any dish that doesn’t meet with my satisfaction. And for the record, pepper spray belongs in the kitchen not on college campuses. 3- I respect the debate, but I reserve the right to grab a bar of soap if I hear Bill O’Reilly nonsense coming out of your mouth. 4- You can never have enough paprika in the kitchen. 5- Mary and Rhonda, feel free to bring the children and the pets. Harvey hasn’t let Trudy buy new furniture since 1978. No one will notice an extra stain or two. 6- Trudy – if I have told you once, I have told you a hundred times – add the bacon and the grease. Everything tastes better cooked in bacon grease. 7- Jonathan. Your Republicans have made fools enough of themselves already. Don’t add to the idiot parade by claiming you have liked Newt all along. You liked Michele until Perry came along. You liked Perry until he said oops. And you liked Cain until he groped your wife. It’s just a matter of time until Newt steps in it too. For goodness sakes, his shoes still stink from the last time he ran. Like it or not honey, Romney is taking you to the Prom. 8- Nobody does deviled eggs correctly. You have to use vinegar. 9- Nobody does Republican presidential debates correctly. You have to use your brain. 10- Marshall. Your children can’t sing. There I said it and I am not taking it back. 11- Bacon. Trudy, you just have to trust me on this. Bacon. Your Grandpa Harold knew you loved him. Let’s just be thankful we had him as long as we did. Happy Thanksgiving. I mean it. Really.

One night, PG stayed at the Hostel in the Forest.
Before dinner, the guests gathered in a circle.
Everyone said something they were grateful for.
When PG spoke, he said
“I am grateful for the people at this meeting
who keep their comments down to a short sentence or two”.
Pictures from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”