Chamblee54

British prime minister David Cameron is on a visit to Turkey. He made a few comments about Gaza. “Let me also be clear that the situation in Gaza has to change. Humanitarian goods and people must flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a prison camp,”
Israel’s ambassador to Great Britain, Ron Prosor, replied “The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas. The situation in Gaza is the direct result of Hamas’ rule and priorities.”
As per wikipedia, Hamas was founded in 1987. This was just after the Iran contra affair, when Israel was helping Iran buy weapons. 1987 is 39 years after the creation of the state of Israel. Many Arabs living in what became Israel left during this time, and many settled in the Gaza Strip.
The creation of Hamas was 20 years after the six day war, when Israel took control of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli soldiers were not greeted as liberators. What followed was an Israeli occupation of the territory. It was by, most accounts, a brutal affair, with Gaza resistance met by Israeli force.
During this occupation, the prime “terrorist organization” was the P.L.O. They were the object of attacks by Israel, both propaganda and military. They were connected to the party Fatah, which became the primary agent of governance in Palestine. There was an election, and Hamas won.
There are reports that Hamas was secretly founded by Israel , to fight Fatah/PLO. Whether or not this is true, the fact is that Israel maintained a brutal occupation of Gaza. It should be no surprise that a  “terrorist organization” would be popular, and win an election over yesterday’s boogieman.
Both sides in this conflict have good sides, and have suffered losses. The commentary above is oversimplified. However, to say the suffering of the Gazans “is the direct result of Hamas” constitutes an obscene piece of propaganda.
Pictures for this feature are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library” . HT to Juan Cole , an excellent source for news on the middle east.

Matt Taibbi spent some quality time with his computer the other day. The post was about the Tea Party, but took a couple of detours en route.
The preamble was about the execution of John Wayne Gacy . For those with short memories, Mr. Gacy was not a nice man. He entertained children wearing a clown costume, before he molested and murdered  children. The crawl space to his Illinois home was used for storage. After a while, Mr. Gacy was caught, and sentenced to die.
This is where the story kicks in. A friend of Mr. Taibbi covered the scene outside the prison, on the night that Mr. Gacy was poisoned by the state. A festive crowd had gathered to celebrate. As the party was breaking up, the reporter started to interview a young man. The chat went like this: “You’re not against capital punishment, are you?” “I’m not against capital punishment,I’m against enjoying capital punishment.”
A few years ago, PG was working with someone who told stories. A celebrity murderer was going to be executed, this time using the electric chair. An Atlanta radio station had a parking lot party to celebrate the frying. ( PG cannot remember the name of the murderer, nor the state of the execution). The wife of the co worker baked a cake to celebrate the occasion. It was decorated with a bright yellow icing, to resemble a fried egg.
The arguments for and against capital punishment are many. For the foreseeable future, it is a fact of life in Georgia. PG ( who has written several posts on the subject ) feels that, while there are some despicable people, the justice system is too flawed to administer capital punishment properly. At the very least, the execution of a criminal is not a time for celebration.
Capital punishment is compared to war, abortion, and euthanasia. All are times where a conscious decision is made to end a human life. Is it proper to enjoy any of these activities?
The easy one is euthanasia. Does anyone enjoy euthanasia, or spend much time campaigning against it? The case of Terri Schiavo is the most prominent, and some did try to make political hay out of it. That really didn’t catch on, as many people saw the shades of gray involved, and were mostly glad they were not the one to make the decision.
Do people enjoy abortion? The procedure itself is not celebrated, and is cloaked in quiet shame. On the other hand, PG suspects that the opponents of abortion are having a bit too much fun with their activities. The morality of using abortion as a vehicle for power is another subject for debate.
Do people enjoy war? HELL YEA. Firing up people on the home front is an essential part of a successful war. When the conflict drags on, and victory or truce begins to seem impossible, the war may lose some of it’s luster. The glamorization of war makes the conflict much more likely. Maybe if the attitude about war was similar to the attitude about euthanasia, we would have less of them.

Part one of this feature was about the preamble to a Matt Taibbi post. The meat of the story was about racism, and people who enjoy it too much.
In case you have gone deaf, people in America love to talk about race. ( No one seems to enjoy listening.) In the past week, there has been the New Black Panthers and Shirley Sherrod, and no telling what else. Some thought that having a dark skinned POTUS would change things, and perhaps it has. Whether this is a good or bad change is anyone’s guess.
Mr. Taibbi (sounds like Tybee, as in island) made the comment: Your average person doesn’t spend hours a day pondering his racial victimhood like this – not unless he enjoys it, and if he enjoys it, he’s an asshole! (Especially if he’s white. If he’s white, the scale of his assholedom (spell check suggestion:glasshouse, grasshopper) is almost incalculable). And this is where PG disagrees.
Why is it worse for white people to be race obsessed than blacks? Yes, black people have been the oppressed race, but do two wrongs make a right. Revenge is uneven and unfair.
A few years ago, when PG was working downtown ( and saw thousands of black people everyday), he read something in the fishwrapper. A black lady said that whenever she saw a white person, she was looking at someone who did not like her. PG realized that many of ( but not all) of those thousands of black faces that he saw everyday were looking back at him, and thinking, that man does not like me.
When it is us against them, you need to remember which side you are on. Some people are going to hate you no matter what you do. Just because someone hates you, that does not mean you have to degrade yourself by hating them back. And spending hours a day complaining does not make things any better, whether you are black or white.
And it does not make you a better person. Have pride in who you are, without searching for fault in others. The only person you can change is yourself.
The pictures for this feature were taken by PG on Nov. 11, 2009. They are located on the Atlanta Beltline. The image at the top was painted over during a recent effort to incorporate art into the Beltline project.

Postscript. PG thought he could build site volume by leaving a comment about this post on Matt Taibbi’s Rolling Stone page. The synchronicity of glasshouse as a spell check suggestion for assholedom was going to be mentioned. ( If Georgia builds another dome for Rankin Blank’s Falcons, could it be called the assholedome?)(So much for having a profanity lite blog.)
The problem is the Rolling Stone website. First, you have to register. This is annoying, but standard. Only thing, at Rolling Stone there is no way to scroll to the bottom of the page, to click the red button. After a few frustrating minutes, PG hit f11 for ultra full screen, and the red button appeared.
The next step was to make the comment. You type in the comment, hit send, and go do something else. Usually, the server works, and your comment is added. But evidently this is a bad day at Rolling Stone, because you get an error message, and your comment disappears into the ether.
PG was a serious Rolling Stone fan for years. He bought his first copy in high school, a pulp edition featuring the John Lennon interview. In those days, Rolling Stone was pulp paper, full of fine print articles that went on forever. It was the Great Speckled Bird on steroids.
Today, it is a slick ad rag. It got lucky with the story on Stanley McCrystal. It will probably stagger by on momentum for a while, until it goes to the media graveyard. When it is six feet under, then it will again be an underground paper.
The spell check suggestion for assholedome is assemblywoman.

Likey was fun yesterday. The good news is, with facebook and the internet, there is plenty of instant wisdom available. You don’t need a bumper anymore, or a shirt to put the button on.
Today’s collection is from wholikesit . When WLI makes lists, they cut off the words after a certain point. As a service to the readers, Chamblee54 clicked on these slogans, so you can read the full saying. On these bonus pages is an ad, which often has a poetic connection to the slogan. Someone assigning ads to the slogans has a sense of humor.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
#Blaming mum for anything lost in the house ;)#theres reasons as to why i dont want to be close with you, you just dont see them.#you either like me or you dont? i dont live for your approval :)#hates falling in too deep that no matter how hard you try not to care, you simply cant :(#No matter what you do , what you say i will still love you!#”Woah your tall” “Hey I’m not tall your just short” #Laughing as your friend gets possessed by a demon :) #hating me wont make you pretty (: #How many times do i have to say “excuse me” before “get the f### out of my way” becomes acceptable? (This is the most liked item on the page. 487k facebookettes like this. )#Mom: Go get your father. You: DAD!!!! Mom: Well I could’ve done that. You: Well why didn’t you? (This is advertised by Groupon)#if a man doesn’t want you at your worst, then he sure as hell doesn’t deserve you at your best.#Passing gum in school like it’s a drug deal. #”HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” “Aww, You Remembered.” “Nope, Facebook Told Me.” “Atleast Facebook Bothered Remembering.” “Atleast I Bothered Wishing.” (This is advertised by Pimp your page)#Is that your ex?. . .NO. . .Thats the biggest mistake of my life##LOG OUT#…….bored……#SIGN IN##I’ll be Burger King You’ll be Mcdonalds Ill be doing it my way And you’ll be lovin it ;D ( This is advertised by Jesus loves you…This prayer will change your life)#I wonder what Pokemon do inside the Pokeball #Chivalry is NOT dead,Yes! u should open my door, Yes! you should pull out my chair, & Yes!you should walk me to my car,Yes! you should be a Gentlemen;YES! That’s EXPECTED! (This is advertised by Cartoon Yourself)#hey , Summer of 2010, yeah don’t slow down i’m bored as hell#Haha look,hes jacking his little penis, not at the table carlos. -The Hangover (This is advertised by “The Jewish magazine you’ve been waiting for-Tablet- A new read on Jewish Life) #FLOCKAAAA!!! #Technology scares me. All of us we became like some oceans full of information. But this ocean has most of the item just few inches of depth. (This is advertised by ACNE HQ)#The best one of the four, I feel is: So many thoughtful things you do. I’m glad I’ve got a friend like you.#I love u because I could stand out in the pouring rain my straight hair gone & mascara running & you still pull me close, kiss me and tell me u love me (This is advertised by….WARNING: Do not click this if you have moral, ethical or religious reasons forcing you to cower helplessly while someone violently attacks you, your wife or your kids..) #OMG, he’s online…time to change my status!#I found some stamps at the thrift store yesterday. 1. May everyday be a celebration of the heart. 2. Sweet are the joy’s the season sends; but closest to heart are family & friends. 3. No gift can compare to a friend who’s always there.# if brains were gasoline, you wouldn’t have enough to fill an ant’s motorcycle and ride halfway around a Cheerio.

If you read facebook, you have seen it. The example that spurred PG into action was (name changed to protect the guilty) ” @$#% &#$$ likes Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. ” In the old days, people put a bumper sticker on their vehicle to show off the clever saying they heard. Now, they “like”.
There was an incident on the Joe Pyne show, that may or may not have happened. It relates to this example. Mr. Pyne asked Frank Zappa if his long hair made him a girl. Mr.Z shot back, Does your wooden leg make you a table?
As per wikipedia, bumper stickers did not exist before the bumper. The first BS were attached to the vehicle with wires. A printer in Kansas City MO named Forest P. Gill gets the credit ( or blame) for adding stick on adhesive to pvc, and creating the first modern BS.
When PG was a kid, there was a miniature golf course on Cheshire Bridge Road called Putt Putt. The first bumper sticker that PG saw was from this facility. It said “I play Putt Putt”
Many concepts just don’t work when reduced to a few words. The subtleties of Christian teaching are not well served by “G-d Said it, I believe it, that settles it”.
Moving ahead to modern times, Likeydotnet is in the vanguard of digital slogan distribution. As a public service, this blog is going to post a bunch of these slogans. A few will be left out…one uses the N Word, and a few are just too gross. Anyone who despairs about the standards of taste and decency in America, is squeamish about cuss words, or picky about the third commandment, will be well served by skipping to the pictures. These pictures are from The Library of Congress.

# No matter what I get on the computer to do, I always end up on Facebook.# I’m telling the truth, but then I smile, and then they think I’m lying.# We have the ice cream truck for the kids, why don’t we have a frozen margarita truck for us adults?# Mom, im 16 now. Can I have a Bra? …No, Justin.# Im a girl but I rather hang out with boys because it is less drama!!!!# “feel my legs!!!” “why…?” “i just shaved :)” # You’ll never find the right person if you don’t let go of the wrong one.# Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. It means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.#Sarah and Richie don’t talk they just facebook…….SAD.#Be nice to your kids. They’ll choose your nursing home.#growing your beard during exams to seek extra wisdom. #”Congratulations! You’re the 1,000,000 visitor!” Yeah bullshit. #I know when we ge older that im going to get a call from you telling me ur drunk and to ome and pick you up,and im fine with that(:#”Everyone, CALM down! Everything will be okay!…LOL, j/k! We’re all gonna die…”# Noooo… being a stripper is a very respectable job. LOL jk, you’re a whore.#So, I kinda sorta maybe like you a little more than I had originally planned. #”who u texting” “mum do i have to tell u who i’m texting” “yea, is it your boyfriend” “NO, its the queen”# A penis has a sad life. His hair is a mess, his family is nuts, his neighbour is an asshole, his bestfriend is a pussy and his owner beats him!# PIG PIG PIG!# i wonder if ur liking?# I Like Hip Hop Break dance ♥♥♥#ygvbyyhjviuv# no its not you i miss its your company# i like my hair snooki style :) # I’m with you Mag, I love Jesus, my strength and courage to face the day-I trust him with my day always# My Wee Angel#Older Brother: I’m goin to the shops. Me: Can you bring me back something? Older Brother: No. Me: Please. Older Brother: No. Me: Please. Older Brother: No. Me: Please. Older Brother: Maybe. *Comes back later* Me: What did you bring me? Older Brother: Sorry, I forgot. Me: LIAR!!! # you smell : realy :yer Well Nott Realy I Havee Hadd A Showerr# ooo ten most shocking photos who put the surveys there# Girls, you look like a burnt cookie. Unplug the tanning bed and back away slowly.# I Love My Best Friend More Than ANYTHING! (: x # when you like someone but you know you cant have them#i say “hi”, but my heart is screaming “I LOVE YOU!!!” # Why do people leave without even saying goodbye?# If we invite someone to a party, we’d request “the honor of your presence”. If they’re a judge, it’s the presence of Your Honor.# Guy: I love you. Girl: No you don’t, ‘I love you’ are just words. Prove it to me and maybe I will believe you.#Please, #6 Jahre habe ich keinen Alkohol getrunken, nicht geraucht, keinen Sex gehabt, und dann kam ich in die Schule! #Hate’s it when a guy tells you they love you but goes to some other girl.# I keep looking at my phone, hoping to hear it go off. But, I guess I’m the last thing on your mind, huh? :( # okay there is a white house,bluehouse and a red house..who lives in the white house #. cod mw2# I didn’t fall, I attacked the floor. #i have a taste for sushi ^_^# Like if you know any Chain Smoker’s!!# I live for Christ. He is my way, my light, my strength, and my savior :) Who’s with me?# Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a retard in tin foil# “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!! IT’S SO FLUFFAAAAAY!!”# Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. # A boy gives a girl 10 roses, 9 real and 1 fake. And he says to the girl that he’ll love her, until the last one dies.# When Life Gives You a Bad Romance, show everyone your Poker Face, buy a new Telephone, call Alejandro, and you guys Just Dance!# He came to me one night. Explored my body, licked, sucked, swallowed! When satisfied, he left & I was hurt!!… Fucking mosquito!# Fake hair, fake nails, fake tan, fake boobs… Girl, are you sure you weren’t made in China? # A man asked a genie to make him a billion times smarter than anyman on earth, so the genie turned him into a woman.# You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.# I don’t care if it’s rude to stare, you are hot, so I will stare.# Don’t judge . . . you never know what a person’s story is . . . leave that up to G-d! # Teacher: Billy why are you crying and why did you bring your cat to school? Billy: Because I heard my dad tell my mom “When Billy leaves to school I’m gonna beat that pussy up!”# Jacob: “I kissed bella , then she broke her hand, punching me in the face”# The world can’t end in 2012, I have a yogurt that expires in 2013.# “EVERYONE SHUT THE F*** UP!” *answers phone* “Hi Mommy :)”

PG just finished another book of short stories by T.C.Boyle, Without a Hero . There are fifteen tales here, all of which end before the reader gets bored. The collection was published in 1994, during that magic era between communism and Islamofascism. Many are set in Southern California or New York, two places PG seldom gets to visit. Not to worry though, because the media insures familiarity with these influential regions.
The story is king in these pages. Some authors are fun to read, but their style overwhelms the story…you are always aware that you are reading Kurt Vonnegut. Mr. Boyle is like a hidden camera, recording the action without calling attention to himself. He is like a character actor, who inhabits the character without your realizing that you saw him on the late show three times last week.
One of the clues is on the copyright page. This is a collection of short stories, which means they were published before. The story of the elephant hunt gone to hell was in Rolling Stone. The teenage hitchhiker who gets thrown out by Memere Kerouac was in Playboy. (At one time, Playboy did have good stories and articles, despite the jokes. Then, the editors started to listen to the jokes, and all that was left was the pictures. GQ paid for the headliner story, “Without a Hero”. It was the fourth story in the book, the cleanup hitter. “Without” is the story of Irina, the dreamgirl visitor who quickly became a nightmare.
The book opens with a foreword or introduction, which few bother to read anyway. “Big Game” opens the show, with a tale of a hunting preserve in California. An obnoxious real estate tycoon tries to kill an elephant, and has second thoughts. PG opened to a story at random to start, and picked “Respect”, a Sicilian family tale.
A few of the tales stand out. “Beat” is the saga of a young man who hitchhikes to Long Island on the week before Christmas, and goes to see Jack Kerouac. He manages to talk his way past Memere, and gets to spend some quality time with the man. Before long, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Cassidy, and a teenage girl join the party. After a while, Memere throws the bunch out, and the story teller goes home. Before long, the teenage girl misses her period. This was Christmas 1958, when PG was four years old, living in Georgia.
“56-0” is another standout, originally paid for by Playboy. It is the tale of a man about the play his last college football game. His school has not won a game in the four years he played. The coach wants to forfeit the last game, but the player is determined to lose the last game by less than 56 points. It is a side of college sports you don’t see on TV. This is a story which was dynamite in the short story form, but probably would have been boring if it were much longer.
DDT has long been banned from use in the USA. Apparently, other parts of the world are not as squeamish. “Top of the Food Chain” tells the story too many insects in a village in Borneo. The tale is told by an man under oath, before a committee investigating a disaster. First, DDT was sprayed around the village. It killed an insect which ate caterpillars, which started to multiply. The caterpillars got hungry, and ate the palm leaves on top of the huts, which started to leak rainwater. Also, the flies got to be a problem, so another round of spraying was called for. The flies died like flies, the geckos ate the dead flies, and became dead lizards. The cats ate the dead geckos, with predictable results. Round and round she goes, where it stops no one knows.
Pictures are from the Library of Congress.

There is an amusing story making the rounds of the innertubes at the moment. It seems like those fun lovers from the Westboro Baptist Church decided to protest a comic book convention in San Diego. The pulp fiction fans had a welcoming party, in costume. Lots of cameras were used, and a good time was had by all.
Maybe this is not the best approach to take. The WBC peeps are living a fantasy, just like those who wear an intergalactic warrior uniform. Of course, the Phelps folks think they are spreading the truth, while most of the comic book crowd knows they are not really androids.
Suppose, instead of protesting the WBC, they were welcomed to the fantasy fair. In the free marketplace of ideas, the most creative will get the most notice. Let style take its rightful place in front of substance. If this were to happen, the WBC crowd would be ignored, instead of getting the persecution they so crave.
The main difference between WBC and more mainstream brands of Jesus worship is the style. Yes, very few preachers picket the funerals of soldiers. But the substance of the poison…that homosexuals are terrible people because the Bible says so, if you don’t agree with me you go to hell… is very similar to the message delivered, at top volume, in thousands of pulpits every sunday morning. None of them speak well for Jesus.
PG was going to make a comment about pedophilia, and how this does not seem to be a problem at WBC. Before he did so, he went to Google to make sure. He found this item. :“Security was tight today as Westboro Baptist Church member Shirley Phelps-Roper appeared in Sarpy County Court to answer charges that she mutilated a flag and put her child in danger while protesting at the funeral of a Bellevue, Neb., soldier…According to Bellevue police, Phelps-Roper had her 10-year-old son stomp on an American flag. Church members had obtained a city of Bellevue permit to protest.”

PG has never been one to travel to another city, and pay serious money, for panel discussions. He did, however, go to the dragon con parade last year. As the last medieval wench made her way down Peachtree, there was a voice heard through a bullhorn. A man was waving a sign and screaming about Jesus.
PG made the mistake of saying that the low resolution pictures were from an abortion. It turned out to represent Jesus on the cross. If you believe in fantasy , that is.
(What follows is quote from that post about fantasy .) A theme of the post yesterday (see comments) was the importance of knowing fantasy from reality. The preacher was living a fantasy. Few are impressed by his rhetoric. He creates ill will for Jesus. The grossout pictures of the crucifixion do the same. PG posted last week about the damage that selfish preachers do to Jesus .
It should be noted that photography did not exist when Jesus lived. Nor did people speak English. That does not prevent people from believing that an English translation, of a Greek rendering, of Aramaic lessons, is the inerrant word of G-d. If you believe the Bible is the inerrant word of G-d, then it is not much of a leap to believe those pictures were real.
Another problem is the placement of the spikes. The spike that held feet to a cross was driven into a spot between the Achilles heel and the bone. No bones were broken, and the feet were secured to the cross. The victim was not going to walk again.
The spikes that held the arms were driven through a space in the wrist. Here again, no bones were broken, and the arms were not going to be pulled away from the cross. In the picture, there was a rope tying Jesus to the cross at this spot, and the spike was going to go in a couple of inches up the arm. But when you believe your fantasy, details like this are not important.
There is a comment from the preacher, Bro Cope, that is jaw dropping.
Here is the rub. We not only don’t expect to convert everyone, we dont’ normally expect to convert anyone. That is not our purpose at all. There are many purposes in what we do, but way down on the list is to convince them of anything. To be quite frank with you, our main purpose is to get people moving – towards God or away. We can not by our preaching put a particular direction in anyone’s heart. What we can do by our preaching is to ascertain what is already there, and then to magnify what is there. If going away from God, we drive them further away. If leaning towards God, we draw them in closer. And from you rantings derived from ignorance, it appears we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.
By getting people to move, then God can steer them where He wants them to go. Then the person’s salvation is accomplished by God Himself. You see, if we can convince someone to believe by our eloquence, then somebody else can convince them to disbelieve. The conversion of a soul requires the action of God, and He needs the person to be moving in one direction or the other.

There is an idea that regulation is a bad thing. The government should let business alone, let them do what they need to do to make profits. This will benefit all of us.
There are others who disagree. Coal , the other fossil fuel, has a long history of bloodshed between workers and management. The story linked here is about methane detectors turned off, so that coal can continue to come out of the ground. In one special incident: Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy, was caught with a 2006 memo that told workers faced with safety rules, “you need to ignore them and run coal” because “coal pays the bills.”
In other news, BP has sort of fitted a cap on the mile deep gusher, just in time for hurricane season. There is no way of knowing how that story will turn out. And more stories are coming out about how workers on the deepwater horizon could see the problems, but kept silent. They wanted to keep their jobs. A key quote from the story linked: “But don’t lose the view of the big picture. Big business is there to make as much money as they can for their shareholders. They do not give a rat’s ass if they are sending their workers into harms way as long as the benefits outweigh the costs. And by benefits I mean profits, and by costs I mean lives.”
What if this same attitude was applied to nuclear power?

PG had spent a long day doing nothing. A friend needed a driver for a colonoscopy. The plan was to arrive at 12:30, start at 1:30, be done by 2:30, and go for a big lunch. The reality was arrive at 12:05, start at 2:15, and finish at 3:30. The southern cooking buffet was supposedly open at 4:00, but did not open until 4:30, which led to a half hour wandering around an antique store. After a drive through rush hour, PG was home, and did not feel like doing very much.
A facebook friend posted about a test, “What age do you act?”. PG has learned that taking stupid tests is a good subject for a blog post on a brain dead day. He also knows not to get involved with the evil machinery of Facebook applications. What you do is google “what age do you a”, and the choices appear as if by magic. You click on “what age do you act test” ( the other choices included quiz, quizzes, and what age do you apply for medicare). In .47 seconds, you have 109 million results.
The first test was the ad happy blogthings. There were ten questions, with five options each. As usual, there were a lot of bad choices, like choosing between TV shows he has never seen. Question ten was  honest… 10- How would you describe your political views?/ You don’t really get politics.
The answer was : You Act Like You Are 18 Years Old. You are a teenager at heart. You don’t quite feel like a grown up yet, but you don’t feel like a kid. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. You’re quite rebellious, and you don’t like being told what to do. You like to do things your way. You have your own unique style, taste in music, and outlook on life.
Underneath this answer, there was an invitation… G-d chose your birthday for a reason. Instantly learn 12 shocking secrets your birthday reveals about your future! When you go to this site, you see: BEWARE: please check the spelling of your Email address otherwise I would not be able to give an answer to Your Free Personal Horoscope consultation. PG will pass on this one.
The next answer on google is something called quizfarm (do they get a government subsidy?) This page features an aggressive popup ad for ray ban sunglasses. There are 25 statements, with five choices between agree and disagree. After answering them, PG was presented with a tie breaker…a choice between “After you eat lunch, you feel like napping./You’ve been married to your husband/wife for at least five years.”XX The answer was: You Scored as 1-12 years old. You should probably ask your parents if you’re aloud on the computer. The spelling suggests a Belorussian hack entrepreneur, and a virus scan tonight.
For a person who age last year was an interstate speed limit, this is rather encouraging. The next stop is AfterEllen The pop culture site that plays for your team. A log in is required here, which presents a problem. PG does not like to register at sides which advertise Velveeta Shells and Cheese. There are 108,999,996 choices left.
Two more choices required a log in. The next possible choice was youthink . There were seven multiple choice questions. The answer here is: 35! Congratulations! :) You are in your mid-30s where maturity really kicks in! You can be kinda serious at times, but it’s important not to be too serious about things unless they’re REALLY important! Kick back, let loose, and mellow out every once in a while! Enjoy yourself! :D
One more completed test, and it is time to get a life. Nerdtests is on google’s page two. The result was : You are like a young adult.Percent Maturity: 60%.
Pictures for this exercise are from The library of congress.

It started when PG downloaded some music. The tune was “Sister Morphine” and the Rolling Stones had a guest vocalist, Marianne Faithful. PG learned later that Miss Faithful had a creditable claim to writing the song. When he heard this number, PG was amazed.
The idea hit to assemble a cd of other female vocalists, all of whom create the same mood as SM. The cd was burned, and the idea for a series of tributes to these divas was hatched. This is the first of the series. There are 17 ladies on the first cd. They are:
Billie Holliday, Patsy Cline, Nico, Janis Joplin, Marianne Faithful, Dorothy Ashby, Joni Mitchell, Etta James, Francoise Hardy, Carole King, Annie Lennox, Sarah Vaughn, Emmy Lou Harris, Nouvelle Vague, Bessie Smith, Gillian Welch, Patty Smith
This is far from a complete list. There are enough moody, edgy female singers to fill two or three more cds. We could probably start a new blog just for the tributes. If someone is looking for an idea for a blog, you are welcome to the thought. Today, we are going to pay tribute to the first three names on the list.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915. ( The copyright to “Lady Sings the Blues “is given to Eleanora Fagan and William Dufty) She got her stage name from her probable father, Clarence Holiday, and the film star Billie Dove. There are many legends about her.
Lady Day was known for her singing and her drug problems, not always in that order. She was arrested for heroin possession in the hospital, on her deathbed. She died July 17, 1959, technically still in police custody. The song on the cd is “You’ve Changed”. It is on “Lady in Satin”, Miss Holiday’s last album.
Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932. Her stage name came from her middle name, and Gerald Cline, her first husband. Miss Cline got her first break singing “Walking after Midnight” on the Arthur Godfrey show. ( Mr. Godfrey got a lot of bad publicity later when he fired singer Julius LaRosa on the air). In 1961, Miss Cline joined the Grand Ole Opry, and was in a near fatal car wreck.
After the wreck, she recorded “Crazy”, written by Willie Nelson. That became a hit, and Patsy recorded what was to be her last album. The song on the cd, “Sweet Dreams”, was released after her death. Patsy Cline died in a plane crash March 3, 1963.
Nico was born Christa Päffgen, 16 October 1938. She was given her stage name by photographer Herbert Tobias. He had a former boyfriend named Nikos Papatakis.
Nico was a model and actress, with a minor part in Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita”. She somehow got into the crowd surrounding Andy Warhol, and became the vocalist for The Velvet Underground. She left them before long, but was musical cohorts with John Cale the rest of her life.
She made some solo albums, and took heroin. She was reportedly clean when she had a minor heart attack while riding her bike in Ibiza, Spain. She hit her head on the pavement when she fell, and died the next day, July 18, 1988.
The song on the cd is “These Days”. It is from the album “Chelsea Girl”. “These Days” was written by Jackson Browne, who was Nico’s boyfriend when he was 17 years old.

PG was recently reading a list of rules for writing , when he began to think of a few. A wordpad was opened, and before long 18 suggestions appeared. Many are only marginally about writing.
When you publish a list like this, you are placing a target on your back, with the word hypocrite written above. PG does not claim to take all of these suggestions. What follows is a goal to work for, not a script for  situation comedy.
The pictures for today’s entertainment are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
When in doubt, shut up.
A halo is best worn over one ear.
If you want to be forgiven, forgive. If you want to be understood, understand.
There are few situations that cannot be made worse with anger and loud talk.
You have two ears and one mouth. Listen twice as much as you talk.
A douche is a hygiene appliance. The verb form refers to using this device for cleaning purposes. Neither the noun nor the verb is appropriate as an insult.
A sentence has one period, placed at the end. Do not place a period after every word to make a point. You should find another way to show that you really, really mean it.
Not everyone enjoys the sound of your voice as much as you do.
Do not place “ass” between and adjective and the object. “Ass” is a noun that refers to either a donkey or a butt. An adverb is used to modify an adjective, and is placed before the adjective. Using “ass” as an  adverb is improper. This applies to “a$$”.
Before you “call out” somebody for “racism”, drape a towel over your mirror.
The third commandment says to not use the word G-d “in vain”. The G word should only be used for worship and respectful discussion. Improper uses include expressing anger, swearing to, selling life insurance, and pledging allegiance to a nationalist symbol.

On a slow afternoon, one way to pass the time is to edit the blogroll. At Chamblee54, the blogroll is like the hotel California…you can check in, but you can’t check out. If you are listed once, you stay there, until editing day comes. If you are no longer in business, you are deleted. Pictures for today’s excursion were taken by PG on Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Earthtodavid was the first to go. David is a man in Opelika, Alabama, (spell check suggestions:Apelike, Ophelia) who knits hats as a hobby. He was trying to sell them on the intertubes. When his latest effort was clicked on, a error code resulted.
Iraq Body Count is still in business. They show 97,082-105,855 documented civilian deaths from violence in Iraq since the “liberation”.
Iraqi Mojo (spell check suggestions:Moo, Mono) posted two stories on July 19. The first was a commentary on Jews in Iraq. The story is that, not so long ago, the Jews in Iraq were an important part of the community.
The second story is about an Al Queda attack in Baghdad. “Members of the Awakening, a collective movement recruited by the U.S. military to fight al-Qaida in Iraq, were attacked while waiting on Baghdad’s southwest outskirts to receive paychecks from the Iraqi government.”
In Iraqi blogs (the ones still functioning), the comments can be amazing. Regarding the story about Jews in Iraq, Anti-zionist said… indeed all iraqis were equal before the secular civil law and bond by the common feeling of belonging and loyalty to iraq.
but then the israeli intelligence through propaganda and false flag operations sew confusion and terrorized most iraqis of jewish faith into leaving their country and embracing zionism over iraqi patriotism and arab nationalism…as per the zionist stated mission and policy towards all integrated enlightened jews around the world since the creation of the movement.
the big bad guy with the moustache had nothing to do with it and was never against jews either…merely against foreign colonizers of arab land and their aiders and abettors, regardless of religion…its scorching hot in the summer…i strongly suggest mojo should take a break and go for a vacation, preferably in puerto rico with a few hot latina babes and a few cold beers. lol”
Two of PG’s cousins have a web presence. On the mother side, Mark is trying to save New Orleans from the ravages of G-d and man. On the father side, Jenny is a painter.
The last stop on this adventure is Live Apartment Fire. PG does not look at TV news, and is a bit underwhelmed by an insider look. However, today was a good day to drop in. LAF featured an interview with Karen Handel, that was never on the air. However, word about it got out, and is not flattering to Ms. Handel.
At one point in her career, Ms. Handel was running for Chair of the Fulton County Commission. This county includes Atlanta. At this time Ms. Handel got to be buddies with the Log Cabin Republicans, which is a gay organization. When you run for office in Atlanta, you do things like that.
Karen Handel is now running for Governor of Georgia, which is different from Fulton County. She now speaks “as a Christian”. The dialog at one point went like this:
Q: Are you against civil unions for gays?
A: Yes. I think that’s not an issue that has come forward in Georgia. We have the constitutional amendment against gay marriage, and I don’t want to see any taxpayer funding going toward benefits etcetera (spell check suggestions:veteran,eternal) for a couple that is not married. In our state and for me, marriage is for one man and one woman.
Q: Why is that?
A: Why is marriage between one man and one woman? (Laughs). Are you serious?
Sarah Palin recently decided to help voters in Georgia choose their next Governor. Mrs. Palin endorsed Karen Handel. In yesterday’s primary, Ms. Handel finished first, and is headed for a runoff with Nathan Deal. The reaction at Chamblee54 was “(Laughs). Are you serious?”

There is a site called Lurid Digs. It can be very, very funny. It is also filthy. Fifty years ago. publishing pictures like this would get you sent to jail. If you want to find it, you can do so on your own.
PG was trolling the internet one night, and he landed at Lurid Digs. He saw a picture that might be fun to use, to illustrate a post about NASCAR.(spell check suggestions: MASCARA) However, at the bottom of the LD page was some troubling language about copyrights. PG decided to write LD and get permission, before he used any of their pictures.
The very next day, this message was in the inbox (spell check suggestions: inbreed ) :Hi Luther…Sure, you can use the credited pics. Also I’m available for ‘interview’ should you have any questions you like to ask…Cheers, David K Publisher Lurid Digs
An interview with the publisher of Lurid Digs! What a coup! PG opened up a wordpad and started to think of questions. He edited them to a numerically proper twenty. The questions were sent to Lurid Digs. The reply arrived a few days later.
Oy, too convoluted for me. But thanks anyway. (I was thinking of something much more simpler).Cheers, David K luriddigs.com
PG was disappointed. As Scarlet used to say, tomorrow is another day. The questions will make a fun post by themselves. Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”

01- Are the models and decorators for Lurid Digs certified to be drug free? 02- What kind of strings do you use on your guitar? 03- Why do birds fly up in the sky, every time you walk by? 04- What can the argyle community do to fight racism? 05- If Jesus were to pose for you, would you put makeup over the holes in his hands? 06- Who asked Sarah Palin what she thought? 07- What impact does Lurid Digs have on global warming? 08- How much was the model’s bail? 09- Have residences been inspected by the fashion police? 10- Does Chenille ever go out of style? 11- Do the neighbors in the trailer park get suspicious when you do a photo shoot? 12- Why don’t we just go ahead and make murder legal? 13- Are humans as smart as dogs? 14- What do the youth of today want? 15- Why do people include the office disclaimer when sending out joke emails? 16- Is NASCAR rigged? 17- Who wrote the book of love? 18- If a model dies during a photo shoot, will he be greeted in heaven by 72 virgins? 19- What do you put on the pizza that you order for photo shoots? 20- Do you ever play 20 questions?