Chamblee54

The text below is Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to the American people”. It was printed in The Guardian on November 24, 2002. Formatting is by Chamblee54. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, “Permission to fight (against disbelievers) is given to those (believers) who are fought against, because they have been wronged and surely, Allah is Able to give them (believers) victory” [Quran 22:39] “Those who believe, fight in the Cause of Allah, and those who disbelieve, fight in the cause of Taghut (anything worshipped other than Allah e.g. Satan). So fight you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble is indeed the plot of Satan.”[Quran 4:76] Some American writers have published articles under the title ‘On what basis are we fighting?’ These articles have generated a number of responses, some of which adhered to the truth and were based on Islamic Law, and others which have not. Here we wanted to outline the truth – as an explanation and warning – hoping for Allah’s reward, seeking success and support from Him. While seeking Allah’s help, we form our reply based on two questions directed at the Americans: (Q1) Why are we fighting and opposing you (Q2)What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you? As for the first question: Why are we fighting and opposing you? The answer is very simple: (1) Because you attacked us and continue to attack us. (a) You attacked us in Palestine: (i) Palestine, which has sunk under military occupation for more than 80 years. The British handed over Palestine, with your help and your support, to the Jews, who have occupied it for more than 50 years; years overflowing with oppression, tyranny, crimes, killing, expulsion, destruction and devastation. The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased. Each and every person whose hands have become polluted in the contribution towards this crime must pay its*price, and pay for it heavily. (ii) It brings us both laughter and tears to see that you have not yet tired of repeating your fabricated lies that the Jews have a historical right to Palestine, as it was promised to them in the Torah. Anyone who disputes with them on this alleged fact is accused of anti-semitism. This is one of the most fallacious, widely-circulated fabrications in history. The people of Palestine are pure Arabs and original Semites. It is the Muslims who are the inheritors of Moses (peace be upon him) and the inheritors of the real Torah that has not been changed. Muslims believe in all of the Prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon them all. If the followers of Moses have been promised a right to Palestine in the Torah, then the Muslims are the most worthy nation of this. When the Muslims conquered Palestine and drove out the Romans, Palestine and Jerusalem returned to Islaam, the religion of all the Prophets peace be upon them. Therefore, the call to a historical right to Palestine cannot be raised against the Islamic Ummah that believes in all the Prophets of Allah (peace and blessings be upon them) – and we make no distinction between them.(iii) The blood pouring out of Palestine must be equally revenged. You must know that the Palestinians do not cry alone; their women are not widowed alone; their sons are not orphaned alone. (b) You attacked us in Somalia; you supported the Russian atrocities against us in Chechnya, the Indian oppression against us in Kashmir, and the Jewish aggression against us in Lebanon. (c) Under your supervision, consent and orders, the governments of our countries which act as your agents, attack us on a daily basis; (i) These governments prevent our people from establishing the Islamic Shariah, using violence and lies to do so. (ii) These governments give us a taste of humiliation, and places us in a large prison of fear and subdual. (iii) These governments steal our Ummah’s wealth and sell them to you at a paltry price. (iv) These governments have surrendered to the Jews, and handed them most of Palestine, acknowledging the existence of their state over the dismembered limbs of their own people. (v) The removal of these governments is an obligation upon us, and a necessary step to free the Ummah, to make the Shariah the supreme law and to regain Palestine. And our fight against these governments is not separate from out fight against you. (d) You steal our wealth and oil at paltry prices because of you international influence and military threats. This theft is indeed the biggest theft ever witnessed by mankind in the history of the world. (e) Your forces occupy our countries; you spread your military bases throughout them; you corrupt our lands, and you besiege our sanctities, to protect the security of the Jews and to ensure the continuity of your pillage of our treasures. (f) You have starved the Muslims of Iraq, where children die every day. It is a wonder that more than 1.5 million Iraqi children have died as a result of your sanctions, and you did not show concern. Yet when 3000 of your people died, the entire world rises and has not yet sat down. (g) You have supported the Jews in their idea that Jerusalem is their eternal capital, and agreed to move your embassy there. With your help and under your protection, the Israelis are planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa mosque. Under the protection of your weapons, Sharon entered the Al-Aqsa mosque, to pollute it as a preparation to capture and destroy it. (2) These tragedies and calamities are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?!! (3) You may then dispute that all the above does not justify aggression against civilians, for crimes they did not commit and offenses in which they did not partake: (a) This argument contradicts your continuous repetition that America is the land of freedom, and its leaders in this world. Therefore, the American people are the ones who choose their government by way of their own free will; a choice which stems from their agreement to its policies. Thus the American people have chosen, consented to, and affirmed their support for the Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, the occupation and usurpation of their land, and its continuous killing, torture, punishment and expulsion of the Palestinians. The American people have the ability and choice to refuse the policies of their Government and even to change it if they want. (b) The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands in the Arabian Gulf, and the fleets which ensure the blockade of Iraq. These tax dollars are given to Israel for it to continue to attack us and penetrate our lands. So the American people are the ones who fund the attacks against us, and they are the ones who oversee the expenditure of these monies in the way they wish, through their elected candidates. (c) Also the American army is part of the American people. It is this very same people who are shamelessly helping the Jews fight against us. (d) The American people are the ones who employ both their men and their women in the American Forces which attack us. (e) This is why the American people cannot be not innocent of all the crimes committed by the Americans and Jews against us. (f) Allah, the Almighty, legislated the permission and the option to take revenge. Thus, if we are attacked, then we have the right to attack back. Whoever has destroyed our villages and towns, then we have the right to destroy their villages and towns. Whoever has stolen our wealth, then we have the right to destroy their economy. And whoever has killed our civilians, then we have the right to kill theirs. The American Government and press still refuses to answer the question: Why did they attack us in New York and Washington? If Sharon is a man of peace in the eyes of Bush, then we are also men of peace!!! America does not understand the language of manners and principles, so we are addressing it using the language it understands.

(Q2) As for the second question that we want to answer: What are we calling you to, and what do we want from you? (1) The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. (a) The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them – peace be upon them all. It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah’s Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language. (b) It is the religion whose book – the Quran – will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it. (2) The second thing we call you to, is to stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you. (a) We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling’s, and trading with interest. We call you to all of this that you may be freed from that which you have become caught up in; that you may be freed from the deceptive lies that you are a great nation, that your leaders spread amongst you to conceal from you the despicable state to which you have reached. (b) It is saddening to tell you that you are the worst civilization witnessed by the history of mankind: (i) You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire. You separate religion from your policies, contradicting the pure nature which affirms Absolute Authority to the Lord and your Creator. You flee from the embarrassing question posed to you: How is it possible for Allah the Almighty to create His creation, grant them power over all the creatures and land, grant them all the amenities of life, and then deny them that which they are most in need of: knowledge of the laws which govern their lives? (ii) You are the nation that permits Usury, which has been forbidden by all the religions. Yet you build your economy and investments on Usury. As a result of this, in all its different forms and guises, the Jews have taken control of your economy, through which they have then taken control of your media, and now control all aspects of your life making you their servants and achieving their aims at your expense; precisely what Benjamin Franklin warned you against. (iii) You are a nation that permits the production, trading and usage of intoxicants. You also permit drugs, and only forbid the trade of them, even though your nation is the largest consumer of them. (iv) You are a nation that permits acts of immorality, and you consider them to be pillars of personal freedom. You have continued to sink down this abyss from level to level until incest has spread amongst you, in the face of which neither your sense of honour nor your laws object. Who can forget your President Clinton’s immoral acts committed in the official Oval office? After that you did not even bring him to account, other than that he ‘made a mistake’, after which everything passed with no punishment. Is there a worse kind of event for which your name will go down in history and remembered by nations? (v) You are a nation that permits gambling in its all forms. The companies practice this as well, resulting in the investments becoming active and the criminals becoming rich. (vi) You are a nation that exploits women like consumer products or advertising tools calling upon customers to purchase them. You use women to serve passengers, visitors, and strangers to increase your profit margins. You then rant that you support the liberation of women. (vii) You are a nation that practices the trade of sex in all its forms, directly and indirectly. Giant corporations and establishments are established on this, under the name of art, entertainment, tourism and freedom, and other deceptive names you attribute to it. (viii) And because of all this, you have been described in history as a nation that spreads diseases that were unknown to man in the past. Go ahead and boast to the nations of man, that you brought them AIDS as a Satanic American Invention. (xi) You have destroyed nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that you can secure the profit of your greedy companies and*industries. (x) Your law is the law of the rich and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews, who control your policies, media and economy. (xi) That which you are singled out for in the history of mankind, is that you have used your force to destroy mankind more than any other nation in history; not to defend principles and values, but to hasten to secure your interests and profits. You who dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, even though Japan was ready to negotiate an end to the war. How many acts of oppression, tyranny and injustice have you carried out, O callers to freedom? (xii) Let us not forget one of your major characteristics: your duality in both manners and values; your hypocrisy in manners and principles. All*manners, principles and values have two scales: one for you and one for the others.(a) The freedom and democracy that you call to is for yourselves and for white race only; as for the rest of the world, you impose upon them your monstrous, destructive policies and Governments, which you call the ‘American friends’. Yet you prevent them from establishing democracies. When the Islamic party in Algeria wanted to practice democracy and they won the election, you unleashed your agents in the Algerian army onto them, and to attack them with tanks and guns, to imprison them and torture them – a new lesson from the ‘American book  democracy’!!! (b) Your policy on prohibiting and forcibly removing weapons of mass destruction to ensure world peace: it only applies to those countries which you do not permit to possess such weapons. As for the countries you consent to, such as Israel, then they are allowed to keep and use such weapons to defend their security. Anyone else who you suspect might be manufacturing or keeping these kinds of weapons, you call them criminals and you take military action against them. (c) You are the last ones to respect the resolutions and policies of International Law, yet you claim to want to selectively punish anyone else who does the same. Israel has for more than 50 years been pushing UN resolutions and rules against the wall with the full support of America. (d) As for the war criminals which you censure and form criminal courts for – you shamelessly ask that your own are granted immunity!! However, history will not forget the war crimes that you committed against the Muslims and the rest of the world; those you have killed in Japan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq will remain a shame that you will never be able to escape. It will suffice to remind you of your latest war crimes in Afghanistan, in which densely populated innocent civilian villages were destroyed, bombs were dropped on mosques causing the roof of the mosque to come crashing down on the heads of the Muslims praying inside. You are the ones who broke the agreement with the Mujahideen when they left Qunduz, bombing them in Jangi fort, and killing more than 1,000 of your prisoners through suffocation and thirst. Allah alone knows how many people have died by torture at the hands of you and your agents. Your planes remain in the Afghan skies, looking for anyone remotely suspicious. (e) You have claimed to be the vanguards of Human Rights, and your Ministry of Foreign affairs issues annual reports containing statistics of those countries that violate any Human Rights. However, all these things vanished when the Mujahideen hit you, and you then implemented the methods of the same documented governments that you used to curse. In America, you captured thousands the Muslims and Arabs, took them into custody with neither reason, court trial, nor even disclosing their names. You issued newer, harsher laws. What happens in Guatanamo is a historical embarrassment to America and its values, and it screams into your faces – you hypocrites, “What is the value of your signature on any agreement or treaty?” (3) What we call you to thirdly is to take an honest stance with yourselves – and I doubt you will do so – to discover that you are  nation without principles or manners, and that the values and principles to you are something which you merely demand from others, not that which you yourself must adhere to. (4) We also advise you to stop supporting Israel, and to end your support of the Indians in Kashmir, the Russians against the Chechens and to also cease supporting the Manila Government against the Muslims in Southern Philippines. (5) We also advise you to pack your luggage and get out of our lands. We desire for your goodness, guidance, and righteousness, so do not force us to send you back as cargo in coffins. (6) Sixthly, we call upon you to end your support of the corrupt leaders in our countries. Do not interfere in our politics and method of education. Leave us alone, or else expect us in New York and Washington. (7) We also call you to deal with us and interact with us on the basis of mutual interests and benefits, rather than the policies of sub dual, theft and occupation, and not to continue your policy of supporting the Jews because this will result in more disasters for you. If you fail to respond to all these conditions, then prepare for fight with the Islamic Nation. The Nation of Monotheism, that puts complete trust on Allah and fears none other than Him. The Nation which is addressed by its Quran with the words: “Do you fear them? Allah has more right that you should fear Him if you are believers. Fight against them so that Allah will punish them by your hands and disgrace them and give you victory over them and heal the breasts of believing people. And remove the anger of their (believers’) hearts. Allah accepts the repentance of whom He wills. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” [Quran9:13-1] The Nation of honour and respect: “But honour, power and glory belong to Allah, and to His Messenger (Muhammad- peace be upon him) and to the believers.” [Quran 63:8] “So do not become weak (against your enemy), nor be sad, and you will be*superior ( in victory )if you are indeed (true) believers” [Quran 3:139] The Nation of Martyrdom; the Nation that desires death more than you desire life: “Think not of those who are killed in the way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive with their Lord, and they are being provided for. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them from His bounty and rejoice for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind (not yet martyred) that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve. They rejoice in a grace and a bounty from Allah, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers.” [Quran 3:169-171] The Nation of victory and success that Allah has promised: “It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Muhammad peace be upon him) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it victorious over all other religions even though the Polytheists hate it.” [Quran 61:9] “Allah has decreed that ‘Verily it is I and My Messengers who shall be victorious.’ Verily Allah is All-Powerful, All-Mighty.” [Quran 58:21] The Islamic Nation that was able to dismiss and destroy the previous evil Empires like yourself; the Nation that rejects your attacks, wishes to remove your evils, and is prepared to fight you. You are well aware that the Islamic Nation, from the very core of its soul, despises your haughtiness and arrogance. If the Americans refuse to listen to our advice and the goodness, guidance and righteousness that we call them to, then be aware that you will lose this Crusade Bush began, just like the other previous Crusades in which you were humiliated by the hands of the Mujahideen, fleeing to your home in great silence and disgrace. If the Americans do not respond, then their fate will be that of the Soviets who fled from Afghanistan to deal with their military defeat, political breakup, ideological downfall, and economic bankruptcy. This is our message to the Americans, as an answer to theirs. Do they now know why we fight them and over which form of ignorance, by the permission of Allah, we shall be victorious?

Today’s story is a double repost. Part is just as true today as two years ago. The other part is just as false. It is up to the reader to tell which is which.
These thoughts are for you to use. They were articulated by a man named Don Miguel Ruiz. They are called the Four Agreements. . HT to activecitizen54..
PG does not claim to live up to these ideals. Number two is especially tough for him. The main thing is to try, and to always do your best. This is not about what you believe or think, it is about what you do.
agreement 1–Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
agreement 2–Don’t take anything personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
agreement 3–Don’t make assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
agreement 4–Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking past the hospital swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end.
He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there. Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out.
When the Director of Nursing became aware of Edna’s heroic act, she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered her to be mentally stable. When she went to tell End the news she said,
“Edna, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you’re being discharged. Since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and saving the life of another patient, I have concluded that your act displays sound mindedness.
The bad news is that Jim, the patient you saved, hung himself in his bathroom with the belt of his robe right after you saved him. I am so sorry, but he’s dead.”
Edna replied; “He didn’t hang himself. I put him there to dry. How soon can I go home?”

A facebook friend gave PG the link to a video, The Power of Parable , and set some events into motion. It did not end well.
TPOP is an interview with Peter Rollins. He says that “a parable tries to get beyond something in the head, and rupture something in the heart.” A parable is like a painting, with a different meaning every time you look at it. It should make you think, it should move and transform you. A parable ” is not giving water to those who are thirsty, it is giving them salt to make them thirsty.”
PG had been thinking of the story of The Prodigal Son , and decided to publish this story on his blog. He found the text, in Luke 15. PG’s late father was named Luke.
The story of The Prodigal Son (a phrase that does not appear in Luke 15) had long been a favorite of PG. It is about family, acceptance, forgiveness, and welcome. The disgust that PG feels for the abusive ways of Jesus worshipers does not affect his enjoyment of this story.
At about this time, PG saw a comment thread at a blog . The writer of this blog, ZSB, had butted heads with PG before. A few comments were made, including one snide remark by Frank Turk. For some reason, PG decided to send a link to The Prodigal Son , The story was about forgiveness and kindness, and PG hoped to build a bridge.
ZSB … Chamblee, I like the photos (although, as usual, they seem unlrelated to the post), am ambivalent about the video,dig the rainbow-text effect, and LOVE the words contained in the text… but what on earth does it have to do with this post or this meta? Oh, wait, I get it—you’re further showcasing how the Internet often fosters random non-sequitur-style communication. September 15, 2011 3:27 PM
chamblee54 …. 1- I did not read the complete dialog. I seldom have the patience for long discussions like this. When I saw the comment “G-d has given us a perfect bible”, I realized that this was built on a shaky foundation. I simply do not agree with that concept. 2- The story that I used is The prodigal son. It is about not giving up on people. It is about not labeling someone a troll, and ignoring everything they say. I see that as highly relevant to the dialog between Mr. Turk and myself. 3- I linked to a video in the story. It is a monolog about the value of parables. It is about taking a text and thinking about the many different meanings that it can have. This is different from calling this text the “word of G-d”, and saying that it has a literal meaning. The story of the prodigal son can have many meanings. 4- The Prodigal Son was a parable. It was a made up story, used to teach a lesson. When you call a text a literal piece of work, you contradict the nature of parables. The Prodigal Son story may have happened, or may not have. This is beside the point to the overall story. 5- The video is a song by Tom Waits. While not a direct cause and effect companion to the story, there is a connection. Whatever happens to little boys who never comb their hair? September 15, 2011 3:42 PM
ZSB … Chamblee54 said… “. [The Prodigal Son] is about not giving up on people. It is about not labeling someone a troll, and ignoring everything they say. ”
Um, no. No, a thousand times no! That is not what the Lord’s parable of the lost son is about. Look at the context. It’s about salvation. It’s about something you won’t hear because you’re tripped up by the words “God has given us a perfect Bible.” Reject it, laugh at it, spit on it, but don’t turn it into a benign little collection of nice-isms that you can live with, because, while it doesn’t harm God’s Word, it makes you look silly to do so. September 15, 2011 4:27 PM
chamblee54 … My point exactly. A parable is like a poem … it should have a different meaning every time you hear it. When you take an allegory, and call it a literal work, you are not always going to have the “correct” interpretation.
This story was written by someone. It was written many years after Jesus had his ministry. It was translated at least twice. It was copied by hand, probably more than once. It was compiled into a book by the council of nicea. This is not a copy/paste of a word document written by Jesus.
But, when someone disagrees with your view, and you have a hissy fit, then it makes YOU look silly. September 15, 2011 5:01 PM
ZSB … Okay, I’ve dealth with the tired, ill-founded claim of “twice-translated” words of Jesus, allegedly far-removed from his ministry here . And parables aren’t allegory. Fairly common rookie mistake.
And this comment thread is actually about the subject of the blogpost. Like all of my blog comment threads, it’s not about your beef (and borderline obsession) with Frank Turk.
Comment thread is now un-hijacked. i.e. all comments unrelated to the post (paticularly by those who admit to not having read it) will be deleted post-haste. That is all. September 15, 2011 5:15 PM
PG was had many ups and downs with Jesus. Some of the bad experiences were not his fault. In this case, he should have known better. You don’t discuss poetry with Jesus worshipers, at least ones who  care mostly about life after death. It is a “fairly common rookie mistake”. Jesus was spoiled for PG a while back. This visit was a reminder. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.

MG: Yes. Hey, did you know they use foreskins for replacing eyelids? JG: No they don’t. MG: Yeah, they do. JG: Come on, really? MG: You tend to look a bit cock-eyed, though. JG: I can’t believe I just walked into that one. MG: Me either. /// FIVE RULES TO REMEMBER IN LIFE: 1. Money cannot buy happiness but its more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle. 2. Forgive your enemy but remember the fuckers name. 3. Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they’re in trouble again. 4. Many people are alive only because its illegal to shoot them. 5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk /// Me, behave? As a child I saw Tarzan almost naked, Cinderella arrived home after midnight, Pinocchio told lies, Aladdin was a thief, Batman drove over 200 miles an hour, Snow White lived in a house w/7 men, Popeye smoked a pipe & had tattoos, Donald Duck didn’t wear pants, PacMan ran around 2 digital music while eating pills that enhanced his performance, & Shaggy & Scooby were mystery solving hippies that always had the munchies (420). No wonder I’m in a 12 Step Program! /// “What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age – Sylvia Plath /// If I ever die in a tragic or horrific way, I want people to start making jokes about it immediately. Morbid, horrible jokes. It’s what I want, and if there is an afterlife then I will haunt the shit out of you for not doing that. The more offensive, the happier I would be. Remember this. /// “I have no interest in going back to anything. Not to make it better, and not to make myself feel better. My life is here and now. I will make things better here and now. I will rejoice in my life as I do so.” — Kennedy Shultz /// @almightygod: 10 years ago I was sitting on my throne, watching it all happen, doing nothing. /// Mad respect for today’s remembrances. But can we please get some unified condolence for all the innocent lives killed by American imperialism? /// “Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” — Marilyn Monroe /// Pleasure to meet you yesterday. I’m continuing to pursue the dream of growing a moustache. /// I believe that injury was sustained during a clearance sale at Barney’s. I recognize that bitch and I TOLD HUH that last pair of Ferragamos had MY name on them. /// I had an uncomfortable lunch date with the model the summer after this campaign. He didn’t look as good as his profile pictures, which included this one. /// Dear friends, Please copy & paste this to your status if you are constantly being asked to copy & paste something to your status by friends who copy & paste things to their status. Many people won’t copy & paste this but my true friends will copy & paste it because you know this was copied & pasted from a dear friend in need of more crap to copy & paste. I’ll be watching to see who my true friends are!! /// Where is he Now? Down by the creek walking on water /// What exactly happens to us as a society in the next 4 years that leads to flying cars, hover boards, dustless paper, advanced de-aging treatments and simultaneously gives us shittier TV picture quality, sub par vector holograms, crappy cell phone/sunglasses headsets and gets us back to using fax machines in nearly every room of the house? I can only assume we discover cold fusion and, on the same day, a techno-organic virus wipes out at least half of all technology created after 1994. /// .I owe you my left testicle, infinite bucket of glitter, and my first born baby queerling. your hard, crazy work on ‘url’ stuff and continued dedication and support creates a better feeling than my orgasm in the alley behind that sketchy Memphis bar. /// Of course–it was a typo. Tell Facebook to allow us to edit! I didn’t have time to repost, /// “I’m not.” (yeh, it’s a real quotation from a real movie, can you guess which one?) /// “Attack life. It’s going to kill you anyway.” (Stephen Coallier) /// “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.” (Helen Keller) /// Woman: What terrible weather we’re having. Oscar Wilde: Yes, but if it wasn’t for the snow, how could we believe in the immortality of the soul? Woman: What an interesting question, Mr. Wilde! But tell me exactly what you mean. Oscar Wilde: I haven’t the slightest idea. /// I thought I was knee-deep in horseshit, but it turns out we were making a killing in the fertilizer business.

It is often said that people call upon the gods when they have lost all hope, but, perhaps it is more apt to say we call upon them because we have hope– hope that they can see what we cannot, or merely hope that they will answer. /// Chapters that take this much energy to continue reading are all-ways worth their endings. /// “We who have come back, we know- the best of us did not return.” – Viktor Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning.” I highly recommend this book, written by a psychiatrist who experienced the Holocaust. I felt comforted that, even when life is harsh, it is still worthwhile. /// TV Culture is NOT teaching people how to communicate in a healthy way. I have seen more TV in the past few weeks here in NOLA than I have in years & am very disturbed /// If G-d Had a Wallet, there would be a picture of Tom Waits inside it. /// Oh, and by the way, every story can be told in 25 words or less. Don’t believe me? Check out this 25 word gem from a recent New York Times: In the years since 2001, neither our worst fear nor our highest hopes have been realized. But what passes for normal has exacted a price. /// Moby – who admits he has watched many adult movies in his lifetime – told Bizarre Magazine: “I’ve never understood why porn made for men often stars studly guys with enormous… you know? Surely that’s intimidating to most guys watching? My porn flick would exclusively feature men with normal-to-titchy-sized penises in order to make viewers feel better.” /// Religion is but a myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds. ///Ok, you dream readers: Last night I dreamed that I was doing a photo essay of Sharon Osbourne preparing large platters of hand made green farfalle in an olive oil, butter and garlic sauce and then hand feeding them to her dogs. /// You’re working with a brain, trying to find a suitable corpse in which to insert it, and suddenly the brain develops telepathic powers and starts communicating with your failed experiments. I hate it when that happens. /// 7H15 M355463 53RV35 70 PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1N6 7H1N65! 1MPR3551V3 7H1N65! 1N 7H3 B361NN1NG 17 W45 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 L1N3 Y0UR M1ND 15 R34D1N6 17 4U70M471C411Y W17H 0UT 3V3N 7H1NK1N6 4B0U7 17, B3 PR0UD! 0N1Y C34R741N P30PL3 C4N R34D 7H15. R3 P057 1F U C4N. /// “It is not human to be wise. It is much more human to err, though perhaps exceptional to err on the side of mercy. We shall be exceptional.” /// You are teaching intolerance and hate. It is your right to vocalize it, but it is still hateful and intolerant. /// Forgot to mention that I made a stop by the Clairmont Lounge last night after work and some how I ended up with a crushed PBR from Blondie. /// There is just NO good Cuban food on the Upper East Side. Sad fact. None in Denver/Boulder either. That’s how you can make your milliions? /// I am in touch with Reality, you obviously dont know! No one said not EVEN ME I’m special, you just feel threatened, offended, ticked off, bothered, and compelled to TRY to attack me! But it’s OK I’m also aware of such. I dont brag about myself, its def. not my style I Only Brag when another human Being forces me to. I’m Glad You read the Truth, and I managed to give you the Chuckles along the way! PEACE /// Jeremy decided to leave the necktie at home and go as his true self. No more dashing into phone booths to change costumes! /// Thanks for taking the time to debate this, I actually really feel strongly about it and really like studying extra on this subject. If attainable, as you acquire expertise, would you mind updating your blog with additional info? It can be extremely useful for me. /// APPLE CHALLAH COVERED IN GOAT CHEESE. I HAVE MADE IT. I WILL EAT IT. Why? Because carbs will make me sexy. /// Class, your vocabulary word of the day is “jank” /// What’s in the oven, Phillip? Why, it’s two loaves of vegan apple challah! Vegan apple challah! I didn’t know you were a vegan, Phillip! I am not, but I ran out of eggs, so I substituted flax seed and applesauce. Accidental veganity still counts, though. /// Having a meltdown every now and then is amazing for the pores. /// This is only seen by friends with Facebook’s new security choices. In the slim chance that any dishonest folks do read this, I’m the only one in this household going. At-home-all-day next-door neighbors and other security will be TIGHT. Plus there’s the “ferocious” guard dog. /// Easy writing makes tough reading /// Selah

A facebook friend recently posted an address for something called Hundreds of Proofs of G-d’s Existence. There are 666 examples. PG wonders if the thought of somebody reading all of these would be proof number 667. The list is the handiwork of Atheists of Silcon Valley. Pictures are from Little Five Points, which isevidence the G-d does not believe in providing adequate parking. This is a repost . 001 TRANSCENDENTAL ARGUMENT, a.k.a. PRESUPPOSITIONALIST (I)(1) If reason exists then G-d exists.(2) Reason exists.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//005 MODAL ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT(1) G-d is either necessary or unnecessary.(2) G-d is not unnecessary, therefore G-d must be necessary.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//010 MORAL ARGUMENT (II)(1) In my younger days I was a cursing, drinking, smoking, gambling, child-molesting, thieving, murdering, bed-wetting bastard.(2) That all changed once I became religious.(3) Therefore, G-d exists//014 ARGUMENT FROM INTELLIGENCE(1) Look, there’s really no point in me trying to explain the whole thing to you stupid atheists; it’s too complicated for you to understand. G-d exists whether you like it or not.(2) Therefore, G-d exists//016 ARGUMENT FROM BELIEF(1) If G-d exists, then I should believe in Him.(2) I believe in G-d.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//039 ARGUMENT FROM NONBELIEF(1) The majority of the world’s population are nonbelievers in Christianity.(2) This is just what Satan intended.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//048 ARGUMENT FROM MASS PRODUCTION, a.k.a. ARGUMENT FROM PLASTIC DESIGN(1) Barbie dolls were created.(2) If Barbie dolls were created, then so were trees.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//052 ARGUMENT FROM INCREDULITY (II)(1) How could G-d NOT exist, you bozo?(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//053 ARGUMENT FROM HISTORY(1) The Bible is true.(2) Therefore, the Bible is historical fact.(3) The Bible says that G-d exists.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//054 ARGUMENT FROM RESURRECTION(1) Proof of G-d’s existence will be available when you rise bodily from your grave.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//099 ARGUMENT FROM OFFENSE(1) G-d exists.(2) [Atheist makes counterarguments.](3) You know what? I am offended.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//100 ARGUMENT FROM PRAYER (I)(1) G-d exists.(2) [Atheist makes counterarguments.](3) You have my prayers.//101 ARGUMENT FROM AGNOSTICISM(1) I don’t know and you don’t know either.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//113 ARGUMENT FROM EYEWITNESS (SOMETIMES FOLLOWS OR COMBINED WITH LACK OF EYEWITNESS I)(1) Someone wrote the creation story in the Bible.(2) That someone must have been an eyewitness to the described events.(3) The only possible eyewitness was G-d.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//121 ARGUMENT FROM PERSECUTION (II)(1) Jesus said that people would make fun of Christians.(2) I am an idiot.(3) People often point that out.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//125 ARGUMENT FROM CHRISTIAN MORALITY (altho it could probably be adapted to just about any religion)(1) Somewhere, someone who called himself or herself a Christian did something nice.(2) This person was probably not lying.(3) Therefore, this person was a Christian.(4) Therefore, Christians do nice things.(5) Therefore, Christians are moral.(6) Christians believe in the Bible.(7) Therefore, the Bible is moral.(8) The Bible is G-d’s word. It says so.(9) Therefore, G-d is moral.(10) (We are just ignoring all the not-nice things that Christians may or may not have done in the past, it’s hard to trust history anyway, there are enemies of G-d working everywhere).(11) A moral G-d would be really nice.(12) Therefore, G-d exists.//128 ARGUMENT FROM WWJD(1) I have the “What Would Jesus Do?” T-shirt, bracelet, baseball hat, and shoelaces.(2) I wear them in public.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//174 ARGUMENT FROM STUPIDITY(1) I am stupid.(2) G-d made man in his own image.(3) There are all horrible disasters going around the world.(4) G-d is omnipotent in power.(5) G-d is too stupid to do anything about these things.(6) Therefore, G-d exists.//217 ARGUMENT FROM WIND  (1) You believe in wind.(2) But you can’t see it.(3) G-d’s the same way.(4) It IS TOO analogous!(5) Therefore, G-d exists.//235 ARGUMENT FROM UNICORNS(1) Unicorns don’t exist, especially invisible pink ones.(2) Therefore, G-d exists//243 ELABORATED ARGUMENT FROM BECAUSE(1) Because.(2) Because why?(3) Because!(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//250 ARGUMENT FROM POOR TYPING SKILLS(1) In tihs essae ill demnstrate that G-d exsits in a way tat’s so sure thatno athesit can PSOosibly reftue. J will firts dwmonsrtate waht we canaSSUme fo rG-d exisnce,,then how wwe can refute anya rgument wihch pretends teh contrrary to eb true,tehn wel’l expose scinetific evidnece thatG-d eeexists then we’ll cnolcude. yOU will fnid an acurate&up6to6date bibliography no teh page 43 of tihs essay;i Sugegst yu to pritn iths doculent for a mroe confortable raeding.(2) [Atheist doesn’t bother to read it.](3) Therefore, G-d exists.//251 ARGUMENT FROM UNTRANSLATED OLD FRENCH(1) Mais pourceque j’avois déjà connu en moi très clairement que la nature intelligente est distincte de la corporelle; considérant que toute composition témoigne de la dépendance, et que la dépendance est manifestement un défaut, je jugeois de là que ce ne pouvoit être une perfection en Dieu d’être composé de ces deux natures, et que par conséquent il ne l’étoit pas; mais que s’il y avoit quelques corps dans le monde, ou bien quelques intelligences ou autres natures qui ne fussent point toutes parfaites, leur être devoit dépendre de sa puissance, en telle sorte quelles ne pouvoient subsister sans lui un seul moment. — René Descartes,Discours de la Méthode(2) How could you possibly refute that?(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//322 KARL MARX’S ARGUMENT FROM MASSIVE OPIATES(1) Got to keep the public distracted.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//355 ARGUMENT FROM SEMANTIC UNCERTAINTY(1) Atheists can’t quite agree on the exact definition of atheism.(2) Therefore all atheists are wrong.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//366 ARGUMENT FROM ANAL FRUSTRATION(1) G-d my ASS!!(2) My ass exists.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//400 ARGUMENT FROM PULP FICTION(1) G-d came down from heaven, and stopped those motha-fuckin’ bullets.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//401 ARGUMENT FROM VOLTAIRE, a.k.a. ARGUMENT FROM NECESSARY INVENTION(1) Voltaire said, “If G-d didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him.”(2) I concur.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//402 ARGUMENT FROM NIETZSCHE (1) Nietzsche said, “The only excuse for G-d is that he doesn’t exist.”(2) Not true. G-d’s got PLENTY of excuses.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//403 ARGUMENT FROM FIGHT CLUB(1) We are G-d’s unwanted children.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//406 ARGUMENT FROM SOME JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES AT PERCHANCE’S DOOR (ULTRA-CONDENSED VERSION)(1) Russia was atheistic.(2) But Russia collapsed.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//407 ARGUMENT FROM 2+2=4(1) 2 +2=4(2) Think about how improbable that is.(3) If the universe were left to random chance, 2+2 would probably not equal 4.(4) Instead, it might be equal to -43, or 7,894,321,695,844, or something else.(5) Only G-d could make 2+2=4.(6) Therefore, G-d exists.//419 ARGUMENT FROM CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM(1) I like chocolate ice cream.(2) I opened my freezer, and behold, there was chocolate ice cream in it.(3) G-d is so nice with all his little attentions!(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//420 ARGUMENT FROM MISDEFINITION OF A RELIGION(1) You don’t want to be an evolutionist, do you?(2) [Atheist explains that evolution is a scientific theory, not a religion.](3) But you believe in it.(4) That means you support Social Darwinism.(5) And that’s just yucky.//(6) I don’t want to be yucky, so I can’t support evolution.(7) But I need some explanation for the origin of life.(8) [Atheist: Evolution has nothing to do with—](9) Therefore, G-d exists.//421 ARGUMENT FROM ACCEPTANCE SPEECHES(1) First of all, I’d like to thank my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.(2) [shout out to all my homies in the balcony](3) I couldn’t have done this without Jesus.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//444 ARGUMENT FROM POT(1) Everything on Earth is here for people to use.(2) Weed makes you feel really good.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//452 AUDREY MEYER’S ARGUMENT FROM IGNORANCE(1) Ignorance runs rampant.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//459 ARGUMENT FROM PENIS ENLARGEMENT(1) I became a born-again Christian when I was 12.(2) Since then, my penis has grown about 2 inches.(3) Hence, belief in G-d enlarges your penis.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//497 ARGUMENT FROM LIGHT SWITCH(1) My husband slowly died of cancer.(2) But the light switch in the cellar somehow started working properly again, and to my knowledge my husband hadn’t fixed it before he died.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//510 DR. LAURA’S ARGUMENT.(1) G-d either exists or doesn’t exist.(2) How can G-d not exist?(3) Whore.(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//513 ARGUMENT FROM RESPECT(1) You have to respect my right to believe that G-d exists.(2) You also have to respect my right to believe that I don’t have to respect your right to believe that G-d doesn’t exist.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//553 ARGUMENT FROM CLOTHING(1) Fundie: “Why do you wear clothes?”(2) Atheist: “It is cold, I like having pockets for stuff, my body isn’t too neat to look at, and most of all, I would be arrested and forced to clothe myself anyway.”(3) Fundie: “No. You wear clothes because Adam and Eve sinned and were kicked out of the Garden of Eden and made ashamed of their nakedness.”(4) Atheist: “What about primitive societies where the natives go bare-assed without embarrassment?”(5) Fundie: “The word of G-d hasn’t reached them.”(6) Therefore, G-d exists.//562 BILLY GRAHAM’S ARGUMENT FROM TALKING TO G-d(1) “I talked to Him this morning.”(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//579 ARGUMENT FROM AUTHORITY (CLASSIC FORMULATION)(1) G-d exists(2) Why?(3) Because we said so!(4) Therefore, G-d exists.//599 LADY HOPE’S ARGUMENT FROM DARWIN(1) An American preacher said that Darwin recanted on his deathbed, and started to read the bible.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//629 ARGUMENT FROM MATH(1) A guy once tried to prove all religions true using math.(2) Math only proved that Christianity was true.(3) All other religions were proved false with math.(4) Oh shut up. That makes perfect sense.(5) Therefore, G-d exists.//639 HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG’S ARGUMENT FROM SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE(1) When I was young, I searched for truth.(2) Science kept changing what it called truth.(3) The Bible didn’t change what it called truth.(4) Therefore, the Bible must be true.(5) Therefore, G-d exists.//652 ARGUMENT FROM FORMER NIHILISM(1) My life was empty and meaningless without G-d.(2) With G-d my life is not empty and meaningless.(3) Therefore, G-d exists.//653 ARGUMENT FROM LIBERAL SPIRITUALITY(1) Not all liberals HAVE to be against religion, you know. In fact, LOTS of liberals are religious.(2) Therefore, G-d exists.//666 ARGUMENT FROM ASSUMPTION (1) G-d exists. (2) Therefore, G-d exists.//

Luke 15 1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. 3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying, 4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? 5 And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. 7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. 8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 9 And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost. 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of G-d over one sinner that repenteth. 11 And he said, A certain man had two sons: 12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. 13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. 15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: 23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. 25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. 28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: 30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. 31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found. Text for today’s story is from Bible Gateway. Text formatting is by Chamblee54. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Here is a commentary on The Power of Parable .

Unless something changes, on September 21 the state of Georgia will poison Troy Davis. Chamblee54 has written about his case four times. ( one , two , three , four ) Regarding the guilt or innocence issue, this blog does not know. Mr. Davis was at the scene of the murder. The only question is who pulled the trigger, and killed Mark MacPhail. Since this is a death penalty case, the state should be much, much more convincing that Mr. Davis is the killer.
There is a wealth of information available about this case. Since the last time he wrote, PG has uncovered a couple of things. The first is a good look at the GDC profile for Troy Davis. It seems as though he was convicted of an assault on August 18, 1989. This is the night before the murder. This assault was probably the shooting Michael Cooper, after Mr. Davis left a party. ( Ruling 082410, page 3). The other possibility is that Mr. Davis was involved in an assault before he went to the party .
A journalist named Kavita Chhibber has a lot of material available about Mr. Davis. She has an interview with Mr. Davis. He talks, a lot, about his belief in G-d. This interview did not convince PG of the innocence of Mr. Davis.
In the previous stories about this case, PG was unable to find a picture of Sylvester “Redd” Coles. This has been corrected. Mr. Coles is said by some to be the killer of Mark MacPhail. He was at the scene of the crime, and owned a .38 handgun similar to the murder weapon. Mr. Coles, and his attorney, John Calhoun, went to the police after the shooting, and snitched out Troy Davis. The police believed the story of Mr. Coles. ( Ruling 082410 page 19 )
“When Coles took the stand, he admitted arguing with Young but said Davis hit the homeless man. He said he had already turned around to run from the parking lot when MacPhail was shot.
Questioned about why he sought out lawyer John Calhoun the day of the murder, Coles told the jury he had worked for Calhoun “off and on.”
The attorney had accompanied Coles to the police station, where he told officers that he saw Davis with a .38-caliber gun just before the murder.
“Why didn’t you just go straight to the police?” asked defense attorney Robert Falligant.
“I don’t know,” Coles said. “That’s what I chose to do.”
What Coles had not told police was that he, too, owned a .38-caliber gun. He later would admit it and say he had stashed the gun in some bushes before going to the Burger King. Coles had been convicted of carrying a concealed weapon and could not legally carry a gun.
During the trial — and since — Davis’ various attorneys have repeatedly asked why Coles and another man at the scene, Daryl “D.D.” Collins, weren’t ever considered suspects by police. Why wasn’t Coles’ house searched after they learned he was carrying a gun that night — the same type as the murder weapon.
Police never recovered a murder weapon — or Coles’ gun or the one he said Davis owned. An expert on ballistics, however, testified that shell casings found near MacPhail’s body matched those found in the subdivision where another man, Michael Cooper, had been shot earlier that night at a pool party. Davis was linked to both locations. “( source )
The death penalty is clumsy and expensive. It is difficult to administer fairly. It is also very popular. How will poisoning the reputed gunman, in a 22 year old case, deter future killers ? There are things that PG does not understand. UPDATE: Troy Davis was poisoned by the State of Georgia September 21, 2011. The time of death was 11:08 pm

Palindromes are phrases that are spelled the same backwards as they are forwards. Barry Duncan is a/the master palindromist. This is a self applied title … “The other, slightly longer, slightly more combative answer is that it means you shouldn’t confuse me with any of those garden-variety, ‘Madam I’m Adam’ hacks who couldn’t paint my shadow.” Mr. Duncan takes reversible phrases very seriously. The article makes a few points much better than this correspondent. When reading these quotes, be aware that the terms “words” and “characters” are used interchangeably. There is a difference between 44,444 words, and a similar number of characters. As it is, it would take 315 tweets to transmit 44,444 characters, and almost no one would realize that the last one is the first one in reverse order. (Quote) “One way that he categorizes them is by length. Those of one hundred or more characters are labeled simply “long.” Palindromes of one hundred or more words he calls “epic.” And palindromes of one thousand or more characters are called “mega.” … “Palindrome-writing in itself is nothing new. Bill Bryson, in his history of the English language, The Mother Tongue, puts the form at at least two thousand years old, citing our knowledge of Greek and Roman palindromes. The word itself derives from the Greek palindromos—“running back again”—and Bryson dates its English debut to 1629. He even claims to have found the first recorded palindrome in English, by the poet John Taylor (“Lewd I did live, & Evil did I dwel”), though, as Bryson points out, the ampersand is a bit of a disqualifier. Palindromes are just one form of wordplay among many. There are anagrams (transpositions of the letters of a word or phrase into a new word or phrase using exactly the same letters), tautonyms (words or phrases of two or more identical parts), isograms (words containing no more than one of any letter), pangrams (groups of words using each and every letter of the alphabet exactly once), bigrams, trigrams, tetragrams, and on we go. Many of these forms of wordplay have been around for quite a long time, but A. Ross Eckler, former editor of Word Ways magazine, dates a “renaissance of interest in recreational linguistics” to the mid-1960s. The growing interest in palindromes themselves can be tracked, indirectly, by the exponential increase in length of the Guinness-recognized world’s longest palindrome: from 242 words in 1971; to 11,125 in 1980; to 44,444 in 1984, sometime after which they seem to have stopped keeping the record.” (/Quote) El Google has a few results for palindrome. Fun with words advertises Georgia Natural Gas and Glenn Beck, before getting down to business. There is a list of popular palindromes…Do geese see God? … Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw? … Murder for a jar of red rum … Some men interpret nine memos. … Never odd or even. … Don’t nod … Dogma: I am God … Never odd or even … Too bad – I hid a boot … Rats live on no evil star … No trace; not one carton … Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw? … Murder for a jar of red rum … May a moody baby doom a yam? … Go hang a salami; I’m a lasagna hog! … Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas! … A Toyota! Race fast… safe car: a Toyota … Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts … Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? … Doc Note: I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod … Oozy rat in a sanitary zoo … No, it never propagates if I set a gap or prevention … Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna … Sums are not set as a test on Erasmus … Kay, a red nude, peeped under a yak … Some men interpret nine memos … Campus Motto: Bottoms up, Mac … Go deliver a dare, vile dog! … Madam, in Eden I’m Adam … Ah, Satan sees Natasha … Lisa Bonet ate no basil … Do geese see God? … God saw I was dog … Dennis sinned. Special attention is given to the immortal “A man, a plan, a canal – Panama!”. Leigh Mercer published the phrase in the November 13 1948 issue of Notes & Queries. The webmaster of this facility points out that Panama is easy pickings for palindromists, with it’s alternating vowel, and consonants. The origin of this phrase is a matter of speculation. This page advertises a book, More George W. Bushisms: More of Slate’s Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Our 43rd President [Paperback]. Fun with words advertises Verizon stuff, and has lists. Since the list of phrases will probably have repeats from the above list, we will focus on the list of words and place names: aibohphobia, alula, cammac, civic, deified, deleveled, detartrated, devoved, dewed, evitative, Hannah, kayak, kinnikinnik, lemel, level, madam, Malayalam, minim, murdrum, peeweep, racecar, radar, redder, refer, reifier, repaper, reviver, rotator, rotavator, rotor, sagas, solos, sexes, stats, tenet, terret, tests, Glenelg (Australia), Kanakanak (Alaska), Kinikinik (Colorado), Navan (Meath, Ireland), Neuquen (Argentina), Ward Draw (South Dakota), Wassamassaw (South Carolina), Yreka Bakery (Yreka, California). Some of these phrases are worth repeating. We will try to weed out the dupes, but reversable fatigue may set in first: A dog, a plan, a canal: pagoda … A new order began, a more Roman age bred Rowena … A tin mug for a jar of gum, Nita … Able was I ere I saw Elba … Animal loots foliated detail of stool lamina … Anne, I vote more cars race Rome to Vienna … Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era? … Are we not pure? “No sir!” Panama’s moody Noriega brags. “It is garbage!” Irony dooms a man; a prisoner up to new era … As I pee, sir, I see Pisa! … Barge in! Relate mere war of 1991 for a were-metal Ernie grab! … Bombard a drab mob… Bush saw Sununu swash sub … Cain: a maniac … Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic … Daedalus: nine. Peninsula: dead … Dammit, I’m mad! … Delia saw I was ailed … Denim axes examined … Dennis and Edna sinned … Depardieu, go razz a rogue I draped … Desserts, I stressed! .. Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did? .. Do good? I? No! Evil anon I deliver. I maim nine more hero-men in Saginaw, sanitary sword a-tuck, Carol, I — lo! — rack, cut a drowsy rat in Aswan. I gas nine more hero-men in Miami. Reviled, I (Nona) live on. I do, O God! … Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard … Drat Saddam, a mad dastard! … Draw, O coward! … Draw pupil’s lip upward … Ed, I saw Harpo Marx ram Oprah W. aside … Eva, can I stab bats in a cave? .. Evil did I dwell; lewd I did live … Gateman sees name, garageman sees name tag … Go hang a salami; I’m a lasagna hog … Goldenrod-adorned log … Golf? No sir, prefer prison-flog … Harass sensuousness, Sarah … I roamed under it as a tired, nude Maori … Laminated E.T. animal … Lepers repel … Let O’Hara gain an inn in a Niagara hotel … Live not on evil … Lived on Decaf; faced no Devil … Lonely Tylenol … Ma is a nun, as I am … Ma is as selfless as I am … Madam in Eden, I’m Adam … Marge lets Norah see Sharon’s telegram … May a moody baby doom a yam … Meet animals; laminate ’em … Mr. Owl ate my metal worm … Murder for a jar of red rum … Never odd or even … No, Mel Gibson is a casino’s big lemon … No cab, no tuna nut on bacon … No lemon, no melon … No sir — away! A papaya war is on … On a clover, if alive, erupts a vast, pure evil; a fire volcano … Party boobytrap … Poor Dan is in a droop … Reviled did I live, said I, as evil I did deliver … Rise to vote, sir … Saw tide rose? So red it was … Senile felines … So many dynamos! .. Some men interpret nine memos … Stab nail at ill Italian bats … Stack cats … Stella won no wallets … Step on no pets … Stop! Murder us not, tonsured rumpots! … Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts … T. Eliot, top bard, notes putrid tang emanating, is sad. I’d assign it a name: gnat dirt upset on drab pot-toilet … Tarzan raised Desi Arnaz’ rat … Ten animals I slam in a net … Too bad I hid a boot … Was it a car or a cat I saw? … Wonder if Sununu’s fired now … Won’t I panic in a pit now? … Won’t lovers revolt now? … Yo, banana boy! … Yo, Bob! Mug o’ gumbo, boy! … Yo, bottoms up! (U.S. motto, boy.) As some have noted, a popular entertainer has the last name Palin. She has a blog, Welcome To The PalinDrome: Sarah Palin’s Blog. The last post was October 2, 2008. We don’t want to Harass Sarah. We got tired of her a while back, just like this story about palindromes is getting tiresome. HT for the Barry Duncan story goes to the non reversible Andrew Sullivan. Pictures for this story are from The Library of Congress.

A certain blogger wrote a piece about Somalia. She quoted a story in occasional links & commentary . That story was a rehash of a British newspaper article, Somalia was a sideshow in the war on terror – and is paying a colossal price. To hear this blogger, some want to blame America for everything that goes right, or wrong, in the world. The truth is we are not that bad, or baaad.
According to the Guardian, after 911 America went crazy. Anywhere we saw a chance to fight terrorism, we jumped in. Some of the natives saw an opportunity, snitched out their rivals, and got America to help them . The word got out that Al Queda was active in Somalia, and a secret war broke out.
“From the start Somalia was sucked into the war on terror, a hapless bit-part player in a much bigger global drama. The presence of a small number of people with links to al-Qaida was sufficient to provoke US anxieties that the country could become a haven for al-Qaida members fleeing Afghanistan. Soon after 9/11, the US froze the assets of Somalia’s biggest remittance agency and a pillar of the economy, al-Barakat, and many lost money. Another US counterterrorism measure criminalised organisations whose support could end up in the hands of those with terrorist links. This has made any negotiations with al-Shabaab over aid to the regions they control very difficult for aid agencies.”
“The roots of al-Shabaab’s rise lie in that fatal US miscalculation (backed by the EU) to support with air strikes Ethiopia’s occupation of Somalia and remove the relatively moderate Islamic Courts Union, despite it being the only force to have achieved any degree of stability in the country in the past 20 years. Deep historic enmity between Ethiopia and Somalia provided al-Shabaab with the chance to exploit widespread nationalist anger to gain power.”
A key phrase here is “backed by the EU”. When the British journalist discusses this mess, it is Western relief efforts. When the certain blogger is typing, it is the United States. The certain blogger is not the only person making this mistake.
A comparison is made in these stories to the rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The writers here look like they were too young to hear the reports from Cambodia as they happened. PG was old enough to hear the reports, which unfortunately were rather sketchy… just like the justification for the Wars in Indochina. The Government lips never stopped moving.
What happened was that the War in Vietnam spread to Cambodia. The North Vietnamese would cross the border, into Cambodia, to get away from the American troops. Bombing raids were made in Cambodia, and later a land troop “incursion”. Where Cambodia had been a peaceful monarchy, the Communists took advantage of the war chaos to take over. While Cambodia was probably not “nice barbarians living among flowers in the state of eternal innocence”, there is little doubt they would be much better off if the Vietnam War had not been fought next door.
What is happening in Somalia is a tragedy. With the distrust of the West, it will be difficult to help feed the starving people. While there might be a famine without the “global war on terror”, the American killing machine does not help make things better. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress .

This is a double repost, about the custom of middle names. The part about Presidential middle names was written during the 2008 campaign. Pictures are from The Library of Congress .
With the current controversy about the Middle name of Barack Hussein Obama, perhaps it is time for a look at the lessons of history. George Washington did not have a middle name. Nor the rest of the early Presidents. The first one to have a middle name (or initial) is John Quincy Adams. J.Q. Adams is the first son of a president to hold the office. Many current observers wish he were still the only one.
The next POTUS to show a middle initial was William Henry Harrison. He was the first victim of the Zero Factor, in which Presidents elected in years ending in zero died in office. This tradition was ended by Ronald Wilson Reagan.
Another Zero Factor President, Abraham Lincoln, did not have a middle name. Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant. One legend has a mistake on a school application giving him the middle name Simpson, after his mother’s maiden name. Moving into the twentieth century, William Howard Taft was referred to by all three names.
In many ways, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the first president of the modern age. For some reason, his middle name was frequently used, and the initials FDR became popular. Presidential initials did not become popular again until JFK and LBJ. After FDR went to the fireside chat in the sky, Harry S. Truman became president. The S stood for nothing.
The next president whose middle name was frequently used was John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Could this be a subtle dig at his Irish background, much as the current noise about B. Hussein Obama? As for Baines and Milhous, those both seemed to fit the personality of the man in the oval office.
After Tricky Dick was helicopered out of the White House, the use of Presidential middle names went into decline. Gerald Rudolph Ford would be a good trivia question. George Herbert Walker Bush downplayed his quadruple initials, perhaps knowing that many people don’t trust a man with two middle names. George Walker Bush is frequently referred to by his middle initial. Some even refer to the current “War on Terror” as “World War W”.
In the current election, we have a dark skinned man with a Muslim middle name. We have a white haired republican with the middle name of Sidney. And we have a married woman, who uses her maiden name as a middle name. Her original middle name is Diane. Thanks to wikipedia for help in researching this story.






Last year, PG heard a lot of fuss about the middle name of Barack Hussein Obama. This led to a post on the subject of Presidential Middle Names . That post is still getting google hits, and PG appreciates any traffic he can get.
While researching this feature, PG noticed that many of the early presidents did not have middle names . Apparently, before the American Revolution, middle names were seldom given. For some reason the custom caught on during the 19th century. When America started to draft men for World War I, the draft papers included a space for the middle name.
One possible reason for middle names was population density and increased family size. Many people began to have the same first name ( or Christian name) and last name ( Surname). Middle names were a way to distinguish between Jimmy Bob Jones and Jimmy Joe Jones. There was possibly a bit of status involved in having more than one name.
Women have long used the maiden name as a middle name after marriage. Girls were often not given middle names for this reason. The hyphenated Maiden-Married name is a fairly recent custom (Which this author hopes is a fad that will go away).
While middle names were originally a decoration, many are now used as a primary identification. PG is referred to as a diminutive of his middle name, which can be confusing when authorities insist on using his first name. The middle name is also a handy alternative for someone who gets tired of the name they are called by. There is also this thought …”I think parents give kids middle names so the kids will know when they are really p****d at them.” (That forum has an interesting post about Asian names and languages.) For some reason, people on trial for spectacular felonies are always referred to by all three names.

This is my 911 story. I repeat it every year at this time. Pictures today are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
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 professional Jesus worshiper. 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 PJW 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.

Dear Irene: Thank you for fulfilling all my expectations of being a blissful non-event, except for making a few friends and my parrot manic. /// I had friends over for a hurricane party last night. One of them said, “Hey, why’s your bathtub full of water?” “It’s for the toilet,” I said. “Who knows if the water is gonna be be shut off?” “Oh,” he said, like that settled it. And then two hours later, when everybody went home, I saw a turd floating in it. /// I can’t believe that this much earwax is coming out of my body … that’s a TMI, isn’t it? /// Sexauer is an ordinary German name referring to one who came from Sexau, in Germany. Looking for a Mr. Sexauer, a man in Washington called at the Senate Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee. Helping him, a girl employee called the Banking and Currency Committee by telephone to check, and inquired politely, ‘Do you have a Sexauer over there?’ ‘Listen,’ the girl switchboard operator snapped, ‘We don’t even have a ten-minute coffee break anymore.’ – Elsdon C. Smith, Treasury of Name Lore, 1967 /// “Men without souls don’t cry.” #TrueBlood /// “you lived up there like an insane squirrel” #TrueBlood /// Irene threw my guitar WAY out of tune. ./// “I’ll think about that tomorrow……after all tomorrow is another day”. Scarlett O’Hara /// “The worst part about being in the homosexual mafia is that awkward moment after the kiss of death.” /// “I’d like to have a word with anyone who thinks I’m argumentative!” /// “Study nature. Love nature. Stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” ~ Frank Lloyd Wright /// “If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart.” — Socrates /// “Legislators have no right to torture living creatures who are subject to the drives nature gave them.” Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, 1870, /// “We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up.” – Captain America? /// René Descartes is sitting in a bar. The bartender asks him if he’d like another drink. He says, “I think not” — and vanishes. /// When you speak and or complain of past encounters and experiences, what you say, true or false, positive or negative, reveals more about your attitude and you as a person than about the topic of which you are speaking. /// If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for a reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. -Albert Einstein /// THOMAS, I was at work and had my phone on vibrate when you first called, it was late and I was in bed with wife the second time you called, I answered, but I could not talk. I would love to talk to you. I remember the hot time we had together. M-F 10AM-7PM are the best times to call. Hope to hear from you baby boy. /// Take care and remember that tomorrow will come. Dont stress, relax, let life roll off your back. Except for death and paying taxes everything in life….. is only for now. – Avenue Q /// We cast away priceless time in dreams… born upon imagination, fed upon illusion, and put to death by reality. -Judy /// No good opera plot can be sensible, for people do not sing when they are feeling sensible. -W.H //./ Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. /// This is for all the strong ladies, who have been through a lot in life and survived!!!! I am strong because I know weakness, I am compassionate because I have experienced suffering, I am alive because I am a fighter, I am wise because I’ve been foolish, I can laugh because I have known sadness. I can love because I ‘ve known loss. Repost if you are a strong woman who has weathered the storm but still love to dance in the rain!!! /// Today in depressing realizations: I am old now than Norma Desmond was in “Sunset Boulevard.”/// Criminal Records is only good for condescending stares from the employees cause you’ve never heard their favorite band and high prices. /// What Do You Mean, My Birth Certificate Expired? /// Others campers called 911 Sunday morning after realizing the man was unresponsive, Dickey said. The man had been slumped over his chair in the same position for several hours, police said. The man was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. /// The days of leaving class at late thirty, sitting in the library all alone studying, countless smoke breaks, and the rewarding masturbation have commenced. /// “In literature, as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others.” — André Maurois /// “I know a professor of philosophy whose hobby is to quietly crush biscuit boxes in a supermarket.” /// A burglar broke into a home. He heard a soft voice say,Jesus is watching you”. Thinking it was just his imagination, he continued his search. Again, Jesus is watching you”. He turned his flashlight around, saw a parrot in a cage. He asked the parrot if he was the one talking. The parrot said yes. He asked the parrot his name, the parrot said,”Moses” The burglar asked What kind of people would name a parrot Moses? The parrot says “The same kind of people who would name their pitbull Jesus /// “Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” —- Isaac Asimov /// Mirrors don’t talk … and lucky for me they don’t laugh either! /// Bertrand Russell’s 20 favorite words , given in response to a reader’s inquiry in 1958: alabaster, alembic, apocalyptic, astrolabe, begrime, chorasmean, chrysoprase, diapason, ecstacy, fulminate, golden, heath, incarnadine, ineluctable, inspissated, pilgrim, quagmire, sublunary, terraqueous, wind. Alphabetization by Chamblee54. /// Liberals need a subgroup as unstable and badly dressed as the Tea Party. They would be called the Donner Party, after the 19th-century cannibals, and they would demand 100 percent taxes on the rich and free abortions at McDonald’s. /// “Angry people want you to see how powerful they are…loving people want you to see how powerful You are.” – Chief Red Eagle /// Me: “Cats do not drink Gator-Ade. They do not stick their noses in my glass.” Cats: “Whatever. Meow.” /// Is it against the law to eat ice cream in hell? /// No one can think clearly who thinks only with their head. /// Selah