Chamblee54

It is possible that prayer can, at the least, have psychological benefits. There are numerous stories about the power of prayer to heal the sick. A study was recently done. It that indicates prayer might not be that great after all.
In the study, patients receiving bypass surgery were divided into three groups. One group was prayed for, after being told they may or may not be prayed for. The second group was not prayed for, after being told they may or may not be prayed for. The third group was prayed for, after being told they would be prayed for.
After the procedure, 52% patients in the first group suffered complications from the surgery, while 51% of the patients in the second group suffered complications. In the third group, 59% of the patients, who were told they would be prayed for, suffered complications.
What does this prove? Nothing. The quality of the surgical work, and the work of the recovery team, and the condition of the patient prior to the surgery would obviously have an impact. Also, the quality of a prayer offered as part of a secular experiment might differ from that of prayer offered freely by a loving congregation.
There is a difference between prove and indicate. The study indicates what it says it does. It proves nothing. A look at the methodology shows possible flaws in the study. Without a look at the raw data, it is also hard to tell if the statistics were tweaked. (As if PG  could tell the difference.)
HT to Andrew Sullivan for the above story. The second part of this feature is a repost.

Prayer is not always a good idea.
That is up there with G-d and Motherhood, but somebody has to say it.
Many of my objections are in the phrase, ” Prayer is talking to G-d, and Meditation is Listening.”.
In our culture, we love to talk and don’t have time to listen. Talking is yang, active, power. Listening is ying,receptive, passive, and indicates respect for the person you are paying attention to. This is difficult for many.
Of course, no one ever says ” I am going to meditate for you”. Although maybe you should.
Prayer is used as an aggressive weapon. “I am going to pray for you” is the condescending conclusion of many a religious argument. I have had it shouted at me like a curse.
There is the matter of prayer as entertainment. While this may be cool to those who are on the program, it can be repulsive to others. Once I volunteered to lead the prayer before a dinner. Here is the story, with some more cool pictures.
Now, prayer is not a completely bad thing. One of the cherished memories of my father is the brief, commonsense blessings he would give before meals. In the context of a church service, prayer plays a useful function. Some famous prayers are beautiful poetry. In Islam, the daily prayers are an important part of the observance. Who am I to say it is wrong? ( A note to the Muslim haters…We are all G-d’s children)
When someone is in a bad way, people want to think they can help. Arguably it does not hurt to pray for someone, but it is nothing to boast about.
My problem is when people are proud of their prayers. There are few as prideful as a “humble servant”. While it may mean something to you, not everyone is impressed. And in a religion obsessed with converting others, you should care what man thinks. .

There was an incident involving a high profile official at the University of Georgia. The official was caught DUI, with a woman…not his wife…in the car. He had red panties between his legs. He no longer holds the high profile position.
Today, an even higher profile position…head football coach…made a few comments about the incident. The last paragraph of the PR piece article went like this: And on speculation about how a new athletics director might affect Mark Richt’s future: “I don’t worry about those things, I really don’t. My focus is to do my job, and my focus is to be obedient to my Lord and Savior. That’s kind of what I do. And if that is good enough, great.”
This rubs PG the wrong way. To begin with, it is already well known that Mr. Richt is a super duper Jesus worshiper. A substantial number of the football fans in Georgia are Jesus worshipers. Mr. Richt is telling people what they want to hear. If his religion of choice were Buddhism or Islam, he would probably keep this to himself.
Second, PG has had a miserable experience with Jesus. This hideous religion has put a hurtin on PG. Having an overpaid jock motivator prattle on about his opinions does not help.
The third commandment says not to use the name of G-d in vain. To PG, this includes talking about religion when it is not appropriate. Statements like this cause ill will for Jesus, all for the benefit of the Football program at The University of Georgia.
The fishwrapper allows comments in the online edition. PG made this comment, using a familiar pseudonym. In the tradition of free speech, and brains for lease, others followed. chamblee54-5:53 pm-“and my focus is to be obedient to my Lord and Savior”. Mr. Richt is talking about his disgraced ex boss…a drunkard and adulterer, with lousy taste in panties. This is not a good time to drag in your religion. richt rules-5:54 pm- Chamblee- you are a complete JOKE!! GO DAWGS!!! Dawg 1-6:04 pm-Not even going to read what I am sure is some garbage in front of this post. You  have to love CMR. He means it – he does the best he can and does his best to do right for the Lord. John-6:06 pm- Hey “Chamblee54″ – Richt isn’t “dragging his religion” into anything. He is, as are all genuine born-again believers, answering questions based on his Biblical world-view. It is relevant to the subject matter and (rightfully so) is a proper response given defining quality of his life. Agree or disagree, he is being consistent with his identity as a follower of Jesus Christ. So back off!!! Big D Dawg-6:21 pm-Chamblee 54, if you knew what obedience to the Lord and Saviour is/was you wouldn’t make such a comment. Kevin-6:24 pm-John, good post. I was looking through the comments to see if anyone responded appropriately to Chamblee 54. You did so I don’t have to. Well-said. For followers of Jesus, He is PRIORITY and everything else has to line up under that. Fire Mark Bradley-6:39 pm- I guess you can mumble a few useless words and use the name of Lord and Jesus Christ and all will be ok. I view religion as serious but very personal. Georgia is an evangelical State. CMR and most Georgia fans are a match made in heaven. Pardon the pun. I guess the weedeater bowl doesn’t matter. God, Guns and Political Hate-6:41 pm-and religious intolerance. Can you say the new Georgia Bulldawg nation!!!! Pictures for this feature are from The Library of Congress.

The following is a repost . It was originally published in a red, white, and blue font. As a service to the readers, today’s posting will be in green. Yellowdoggrannie is going strong, and has not forgiven W.
I read an item at yellowdoggrannie’s place this morning. It was a link to a video about the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. YDG said it made her cry. It set off my BS detector. I am not a history buff. I do know that the War of 1812 was not the most glorious part of American History.
In 1812, Napoleon was on a rampage, but about to screw up. He invaded Russia on June 24, just six days after the U.S. Congress gave approval to “Mr. Madison’s War”. According to St. Wikipedia, the declaration passed by the smallest margin of any war declaration in American History.
The War was caused by several things. The British were “impressing” sailors for duty in their Navy. Among the deserters and British subjects were some Americans. The British were supporting the Native Americans who were fighting the white man. There was also some talk ( in Washington) about annexing territory in Canada, either to keep, or to use as a bargaining chip with the British.
On the East side of the Atlantic, England had a change of government at this time, towards a regime that wanted peace with America. This being the early nineteenth century, word of this development did not make it to America in time to stop the War.
The War went on for a couple of years. It distracted the British from fighting Napoleon, and was a strain on the young American republic. In the Summer of 1814, negotiations were underway to end the conflict. The British launched a few military campaigns to put pressure on the U.S.A. Washington D.C. was captured and burned. The next move was the capture of Baltimore.
This is where the video begins its tale. Where the video said hundreds of British ships, Wikipedia says 19. An attorney, Francis Scott Key, was negotiating the release of an American POW. He secured his release, but they could not leave until the bombardment of Fort McHenry was complete.Here is an account of the story:At Fort McHenry, some 1,000 soldiers under the command of Major George Armistead awaited the British naval bombardment…. The attack began in the evening of September 13, as the British fleet of some nineteen ships began pounding the fort with Congreve rockets (from rocket vessel HMS Erebus) and mortar shells (from bomb vessels HMS Terror, HMS Volcano, HMS Meteor, HMS Devastation, and HMS Aetna). After an initial exchange of fire, the British fleet withdrew to just beyond the range of Fort McHenry’s cannons and continued to bombard the American redoubts for the next 25 hours.Although 1,500 to 1,800 cannonballs were launched at the fort, damage was minimal.
After nightfall, Cochrane ordered a landing to be made by medium boats to the shore just west of the fort, away from the harbor opening on which the fort’s defense was concentrated….Operating in darkness and in foul weather, the diversionary attack failed. On the morning of September 14, the 30 ft (9.1 m) × 42 ft oversized American flag, which had been made a few months before by local flagmaker Mary Pickersgill and her 13 year old daughter, flew over Fort McHenry, and Cochrane and Brooke knew that victory had eluded them
Mr. Key saw the flag the next day. He wrote a poem to the tune of a British drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven”. The song was made the National Anthem in 1931, and has been (badly) sung ever since.
On September 24, the Treaty of Ghent ended the conflict. The verdict was “status quo ante bellum”. In other words, nothing was changed by the death of those men. The war was, in effect, over when the Battle of Baltimore was fought. The word of the treaty did not reach America for a few weeks. (The Battle of New Orleans was fought after the end of the War.)
The video said the Flag at Fort McHenry was held up through the night by men, many of whom died. This might be true. It is also true that the negotiations were about to yield fruit. It would take a few weeks for word of the Battle of Baltimore to reach Europe, at which point the War was already over. Status Quo Ante Bellum.

In chapter 109 of “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”, Sissy has returned to the Rubber Rose Ranch, and is sharing a tender moment with a friend. The friend says I love you, and Sissy flinches. The friend says it is your problem, Sissy replies that it is our problem, and began to talk about confusion. This got PG to thinking.
Confusion has only the slightest relationship to Confucius . The chinese rendering of his name is a bunch of squibs and squirms, and must be transliterated into 26 letter english. When words are transformed from 2000+ characters into 26 letters, compromises are made. The system for transliterating changes from time to time, and Peking becomes Bejing.
Confusion apparently is a French word, which was once a Latin word. The noun form would seem to be taken from the verb confuse, which is an interesting word to dissect. Con means with, and fusion means to combine. In the atomic sense, fusion usually unleashes a lot of energy, mostly in the form of heat.
Con is also the opposite of pro. Could this all be a profusion of confusion?

Readers of Chamblee54 will be relieved to know that the concierge has finished reading “Even Cowgirls get the Blues.” Soon, the May 2003 Bantam trade paperback reissue will be back in the stacks at the Chamblee library. The picture on the cover shows a lady riding a crescent moon. A whip is cracked over her head, while the right hand holds a skull and crossbones. Three white birds fly at a fifteen degree angle underneath the traveling cowpokette. The illustration recalls the Proctor Gamble logo that has fundies atwitter.
On page 365, the plot lines of the book are tied up. This is fitting, as 365 is the number of days in a non leap year. As December 31 buys alka seltzer to prepare for the indignities of the new year, ECGTB presents a “special bonus parable”. As is well known in Spain, if you want more than one bullfight, you will need a pair of bull.
In this story, three avatars encounter a jar of vinegar. In a story that celebrates matriarchy, and is funded by female hygeine products, there is a cruel irony in three male avatars dealing with a jar of vinegar. Maybe the author, himself a male, intended this as a last celebration of his manhood. And so it goes, as a former cigarette smoker liked to say.
Getting back to the parable, Confucius tasted the vinegar, and noted an unpleasant taste. This can be used for cooking and cleaning.
The next avatar to sample the fluid was Buddha. Yuck, this will cause suffering. It should be disposed of at once.
To no one’s surprise, the next vinegar taster is Jesus. This tasteth foul. So that no man shall drink this, I will drink it all by myself.
Is it any wonder that modern american culture is dominated by the spirit of a man who drank all the vinegar by himself? Selah.

It is apparent that the Gulf of Mexico Holocaust is far worse than the authorities want to admit. Almost everything said by BP and the US government is either underestimated, or an outright lie. When people don’t know the facts, the scare mongers come in.
PG is not a scientist, and upon editing, the scenario below seems a bit unlikely. It is based on water rushing into the cavity left after all the oil in that reservoir has exited. Isn’t it more likely that some kind of earth core liquid has replaced the oil as it comes out? While there may be lava/water contact, with steam resulting, the tsunami described in this story seems a bit unlikely.
The thing to remember when reading this is, we have not seen the worst of this disaster yet. The final impact may be worse than what is described below.
The document below was originally posted by aimlow. Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
Everyone has the right to read what I have just written in this article, as well as to what is written below by the scientists who the Obama administration and BP are trying to shut up. Please share with as many as you can. –Dr. James P. Wickstrom
The estimated super high pressure release of oil from under the earth’s crust is between 80,000 to 100,000 barrels per day. The flow of oil and toxic gases is bringing up with it… rocks and sand which causes the flow to create a sandblasting effect on the remaining well head device currently somewhat restricting the flow, as well as the drilled hole itself.
As the well head becomes worn it enlarges the passageway allowing an ever-increasing flow. Even if some device could be placed onto the existing wellhead, it would not be able to shut off the flow, because what remains of the existing wellhead would not be able to contain the pressure. ( It has been estimated by experts that the pressure which blows the oil into the Gulf waters is estimated to be between 20,000 and 70,000 PSI (pounds per square inch). Impossible to control.)
The well head piping is originally about 2 inches thick. It is now likely to be less than 1 inch thick, and thinning by each passing moment. The oil has now reached the Gulf Stream and is entering the Oceanic current which is at least four times stronger than the current in the Gulf, which will carry it throughout the world within 18 months.
The oil along with the gasses, including benzene and many other toxins, is deleting the oxygen in the water. This is killing all life in the ocean. Along with the oil along the shores, there will be many dead fish, etc. that will have to be gathered and disposed of.
At some point the drilled hole in the earth will enlarge itself beneath the wellhead to weaken the area the wellhead rests upon. The intense pressure will then push the wellhead off the hole allowing a direct unrestricted flow of oil, etc. The hole will continue to increase in size allowing more and more oil to rise into the Gulf. After several billion barrels of oil have been released, the pressure within the massive cavity five miles beneath the ocean floor will begin to normalize.
This will allow the water, under the intense pressure at 1 mile deep, to be forced into the hole and the cavity where the oil was. The temperature at that depth is near 400 degrees. The water will be vaporized and turned into steam, creating an enormous amount of force, lifting the Gulf floor. It is difficult to know how much water will go down to the core and therefore, its not possible to fully calculate the rise of the floor.
The tsunami wave this will create will be anywhere from 20 to 80 feet high, possibly more. Then the floor will fall into the now vacant chamber. This is how nature will seal the hole.Depending on the height of the tsunami, the ocean debris, oil, and existing structures that will be washed away on shore and inland, will leave the area from 50 to 200 miles inland devoid of life. Even if the debris is cleaned up, the contaminants that will be in the ground and water supply will prohibit re-population of these areas for an unknown number of years.
(End of scientists information release.) From Tom Buyea FL News Service

One of the themes of “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” is time. A character, the Chink, is rescued by a band of native americans ( then known as Indians), after escaping from a WWII internment camp for the Japanese. ( Yes, calling a Japanese person Chink is like calling Malcolm X a redneck. There is no shortage of irony in ECGTB. (spell check suggestions:ECG, ECSTASY)You need an irony board handy at all times.)
The faux tribe that rescued the Chink was known as the clock people. They left San Francisco after the fire of 1906, amazed that anyone would rebuild on that shaky land. The clock people had an outpost in the mountains, with something they called the clockworks. The function of the clockworks is part of the story that is a bit fuzzy. The bottom line is, the clock people resisted the white man’s ideas about time. They even considered 13 to be a sacred number, and based what time calculations they made on the bakers dozen.
In time, the Chink got tired of the clock people, and settled onto a ridge overlooking the Rubber Rose Ranch. He became friends (with benefits) with a select few cowgirls, and Sissy H. Gitche. The Chink ran his mouth when the mood stuck/struck. One of the things he discussed was time.
Early on in this second reading of ECGTB, PG had jury duty.One thing you absolutely need on a day of waiting in the jury room is a fun book. At one point, PG looked behind him at the clock, and saw that it was 10:09 am. This is the time shown on all timepieces when they are photographed for advertising.
It occurred to PG that this was standard time ( or daylight savings ), and how standard time was universally accepted without question. If PG only knew he would be reading about the clock people soon, he would smile at the irony. His eyes had passed over the words about time during the previous reading of ECGTB. In his eagerness to read about carpet happy cowgirls, PG missed the lesson.
Standard time is the invention of the railroads. If they were going to make the trains run on time, the time needed to be the same at both point a and point b. This got started in England in 1847, with something called Greenwich Mean Time adopted as the national standard. America had to fight a war between the states, and wait twenty years, before the railroads said we need this. Benito Mussolini would not appear for another forty years or so, to make the trains run on time.
According to wikipedia (which is not universally accepted) : “On October 11, 1883, the heads of the major railroads met in Chicago at the former Grand Pacific Hotel to adopt the Standard Time System of four standard time zones for the continental U.S.A.. The new system was adopted by most states almost immediately after railroads did so. At noon on November 18, 1883, the U.S. Naval Observatory changed its telegraphic signals to correspond to the change.”
The truth is, there are numerous advantages to using standard time, and almost no disadvantages. Like measurements of longitude and latitude, the freezing point of water, and the death of Francisco Franco, standard time is accepted without question. It is one of the stepping stones to civilization.
And yet, doubts remain. If you see a person looking at a watch, ask them what time it is. They will look at the watch again before giving you an answer. And lets not forget the girls of “The Catcher in the Rye”. No matter how many times they were told the time, they never quit asking.

This is a repost of a previously published effort. This is a work of speculation, and has no basis in proven fact. The thesis of this post cannot be proved nor disproved.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. These images are from the Crimean War, the first war to be photographed. It was the conflict that gave us “The charge of the light brigade”, with the line “ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die”. Or often, to do and die. Thousands of men died in the Crimean War, and not one person today can tell you why.
Listening to talk radio while you drive is a dangerous activity. You might start to think, and look at the man behind the screen. Neal Boortz (spell check suggestions:Boor, Booster, Boozer) was on a rant today about Jane Fonda. It it the same story you have heard many times…she gave aid and comfort to the enemy, she is a traitor, American troops died because of her,she should have been executed.
Sometimes when you hear something too many times, you begin to have doubts about what you heard. A light bulb went off in PG’s head when he heard the Fonda Rant again.. .What if Jane Fonda was working for the US government when she went to Hanoi?
What was in it for the government? This trip gave our government a discredited leader of the antiwar movement to denounce. When the government was trashing Jane Fonda, they did not have to defend the disastrous policies of that war.
Miss Fonda has been an icon of right wing hatred ever since, as well as of military training.
(Disclosure: PG was never in the service, but is repeating what others have said.) One story has Miss Fonda giving the North Vietnamese information about activities by American forces. How would she get this information?
The infamous trip to Hanoi took place in the Summer of 1972. American troops were being withdrawn, and anti war protests lost most of their passion. ( It was also soon after the death of F.B.I. Director J. Edgar Hoover, and the Watergate burglary) The war in Vietnam was essentially over for America. We were no longer trying to win, but to negotiate a face saving treaty. President Nixon called it “Peace with Honor”. Miss Fonda’s actions had little impact on these negotiations.
Miss Fonda made some radio broadcasts from Hanoi. Is it possible that coded messages to our troops were included in these broadcasts? Is it also possible that she gave the North Vietnamese misinformation on purpose?
Why would a women known for her left wing activism do such a thing? Maybe, the FBI had some dirt on her, and blackmailed her.
In 1967, Kurt Vonnegut published a book titled “Mother Night”. It tells the story of Howard W. Campbell Jr. Mr. Campbell made propaganda broadcasts for Germany in World War II, which were secretly used to pass coded messages to the Allies. He was condemned as a traitor after the war, but never prosecuted. He did not win an Academy Award.
The role of the government in this affair could have taken another role. Perhaps Miss Fonda was sincere in her actions, but aided by the government. Miss Fonda was under surveillance in 1972. The government would have known about her plans to go to North Vietnam, and perhaps could have stopped her. But, because her going to Hanoi was to their advantage, the government allowed the trip to take place.
The above is speculation, and could be horribly wrong. The fact that Miss Fonda has expressed regrets over her trip neither proves nor disproves this. She got great movie roles, and won two Academy Awards, during the seventies. This may be a coincidence, or maybe it was a reward for her service.
Clearly, the trip she made to Hanoi had propaganda value to the US government. It has been a Godsend over the years. You should always consider who benefits from an action.
During his rant today, Mr. Boortz said that US troops died because of Miss Fonda. ( He does not discuss the man who went to Nam in his place, after his draft deferment.) By saying this, he can ignore the tens of thousands of troops who died because Richard Nixon chose to wait until 1973 to sign a “peace treaty”. He could have made the same deal in 1969. Peace with honor indeed.

Some scholars, no doubt with government money in their pockets, have ranked the Presidents of the United States. Yes, rank is a good word for for that putrid, corrupt institution. As a fourth of july service, here is the list. Pictures are from The Library of Congress
.

01-F. Roosevelt
02-T. Roosevelt
03-Lincoln
04-Washington
05-Jefferson
06-Madison
07-Monroe
08-Wilson
09-Truman
10-Eisenhower
11-Kennedy
12-Polk
13-Clinton
14-Jackson
15-Obama
16-L. Johnson
17-J. Adams
18-Reagan
19-J.Q. Adams
20-Cleveland
21-McKinley
22-G.H W.Bush
23-Van Buren
24-Taft
25-Arthur
26-Grant
27-Garfield
28-Ford
29-Coolidge
30-Nixon
32-Hayes
33-Carter
34-Taylor
35-B. Harrison
36-W. Harrison
37-Hoover
38-Tyler
39-Fillmore
40-G.W. Bush
40-Pierce
41-Harding
42-Buchanan
43-A. Johnson

The credit/blame for these stories goes to JokesFunny.com. Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library” What did one flag say to the other flag? Nothing. It just waved!… What’s red, white, black and blue? Uncle Sam falling down the steps!… What would you get if you crossed Washington’s home with nasty insects? Mt. Vermin!… What did a patriot put on his dry skin? Revo-lotion!… Which colonists told the most jokes? Punsylvanians!… What was General Washington’s favourite tree? The infantry!… Where did George Washington buy his hatchet? At the chopping mall! … What quacks, has webbed feet, and betrays his country? Beneduck Arnold!… Did you hear the one about the Liberty Bell? Yeah, it cracked me up!… What would you get if you crossed a patriot with a small curly-haired dog? Yankee Poodle!… Why did Paul Revere ride his horse from Boston to Lexington? Because the horse was too heavy to carry!… What happened as a result of the Stamp Act? The Americans licked the British!…

There are a few stories floating around today. If you are in Georgia, you probably already know about Damon Evans. He is ( at last report) the Athletic Director of The mighty University of Georgia. Mr. Evans was observed driving erratically on Roswell Road, between Chastain (spell check suggestion: Chastity, Chastise ) Park and Nancy Creek. When the Georgia State Patrol pulled the vehicle over, Mr. Evans had a pair of red panties between his legs. His female companion, a different woman from his wife, was arrested for disorderly conduct. Read the arrest report .
The next segment is courtesy of The Field Negro. Field is a Philadelphia lawyer, who was born in Jamaica and has dark skin. PG has been reading him off and on for a while, sometimes agreeing and laughing. At other times steam comes out of his ears.
Field uses blogspot software, and it is tough to get a direct link to a story. This piece ( no pun intended), posted July 1,  has a picture of Tyler Perry, in grandma drag, holding a pistol. Before talking about Mr. Perry and Mel Gibson ( who would make a cute couple ), Field shares this story. These gentlemen live in the Atlanta area, and yet this story did not seem to make it to the fishwrapper. ( PG does not read the monopoly media carefully, and could have missed this story.)
According to a Georgia Bureau of Intelligence (GBI) news release, two brothers, Danny Lee Arnold, 19, and Thomas Marcus Arnold, 21, have been charged with child molestation, incest, cruelty to children and sexual battery for crimes against a 10- year-old girl…Authorities started an investigation…after it was discovered that the 10-year-old girl was pregnant…The two suspects were arrested in church, after a source called in a tip.. the aunt of the two brothers, Lisa Arnold, 28, was also arrested for incest, after the GBI found evidence that she had sex with her two nephews.
On a lighter side, there is the story of the soccer mom , who took her children to lunch. The people in the next booth could not keep their voices down. The highlight was this gem: ”The worst was the one-armed stripper tho. You should have seen how bad she sucked at the pole dance. Just watching her stump waving around, I had to order a double just to keep my buzz going.”

By now, the word is out about the illness of Christopher Hitchens. The man is going to have a tough time. He became famous for writing rude things about the recently departed, and some are going to return the favor. PG would prefer not to lower himself to that level.
PG wrote about Mr. Hitchens when the drunken one was up and running. There is no need to pile on. It will not bring back  people who died in the invasion of Iraq, which Mr. Hitchens supported.
Mr. Hitchens was famous for his atheism. Giving the Christian obsession with life after death, this part of his life if getting a bit of attention now. PG has not read his books about religion, and is not privy to the details. What PG sees as atheism is a reaction to the Judeo/Christian/Islamic triad that dominates modern thought. Atheism is based on the belief paradigm of religion. Atheism is about as relevant to PG as Jesus worship, though not nearly as loud.
In a time like this, people want to say positive things about the diseased. This quote is typical : “I’m sorry about your friend. But he’s a tough cookie and if nothing else, I believe he could send those cancer cells packing by simply telling them where they are being oh so unreasonable. and frankly stupid. If I were a cancer cell I’d be afraid of Christopher Hitchens.”
Now, this reporter is not sure that drunken bravado is the same as toughness, or a vulgar cover up for something else. It is the last sentence that defies reason. The fact is, this is a Christopher Hitchens cancer cell. This cancer is going to have all the qualities of the host body. It may be the cancer cells that tell him to finish his drink, put out his cigarette, and shut up.
The attached video is a remarkable document. It is a tv show, produced after the death of Jerry Falwell. The three living talkers are Sean Hannity, Ralph Reed, and Christopher Hitchens. At the 5:42 mark in the video, Mr. Hannity says to Mr. Hitchens, “you are incredibly mean, incredibly selfish, and incredibly thoughtless”.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

What follows is a supplement to commentary posted earlier today. It is a repost, and the first part deals with Laura Ingraham.
Miss Ingraham is number 17 of the 100 worst conservatives in America. . The attitude described in this post closely fits the “kill because I’m bad” mindset discussed in the preceding post. The second part is an incident on the road, which also fits in.
There is a Lady named Laura Ingraham, with a radio talk show. She is on at the same time as Neal Boortz, and I usually find her too annoying to listen to.
She was one of the “Gang of Five” talkshow hosts who had a private meeting, in the oval office, with W, last year. Since the meeting was off the record, we don’t know whether they all did lines of coke, or whether Ms. Ingraham wore kneepads.
Ms. Ingraham was discussing the war in Babylon, and she came up with a doozie. The following is an almost verbatim quote: ” I say let the troops kill as many people as they can. That’s what they are good at, killing, not nation building. They should kill as many people as they can, and make this so painful that they won’t ever think of doing that crap again”
Doing what again? Defending their country against a foreign invader?Ms. Ingraham, any country that is invaded by foreign troops is going to resist. The land between the Tigris and Euphrates has been conquered many times, and the invaders were never greeted as liberators.
Or, is that a reference to 911? Iraq had at best a marginal role in that attack. And if you are referring to the Wahhabi foreign fighters in Iraq, many Iraqis are tired of them and starting to fight back. They are a foreign army, and are not greeted as liberators.
The Wahhabis view the Shia as infidels, and more worthy of killing than Americans. Are we going to discriminate between these groups while killing as many as possible, or do we just shoot anything ?
There is a reason for these rules of engagement that you find so troublesome. You don’t win wars by killing civilians, and thus recruiting their relatives in the struggle against you. Also, we need the support of at least some Iraqis…you don’t win wars by killing your allies.
I would be curious if this strategy is what W told you about in the oval office. Of course, that meeting was off the record.

I was driving on Nesbit Ferry Road this morning. Now, this is a narrow two lane road, with a speed limit of 40 mph. Like many roads here, it was a country back road a few years ago, which is now loaded with subdivisions and a golf course.
I noticed a bright red sports car behind me. It was uncomfortably close. There was a little turn lane for a subdivision, and I pulled into it so he could pass me.
Now, this is an everyday thing. People love to drive fast, and consider someone ahead of them driving the speed limit to be a personal insult. I was happy to accommodate him by pulling over and letting him pass.
The red car zoomed by, until it was behind a truck ,which was driving at an unsatisfactory rate of speed. This continued for another couple of miles.
Now, I knew what was going to happen. This road went on for another mile or so, until it came to a dead end at Holcomb Bridge Road, with a red light. Sure enough, when I got to the red light, and got in one of the left turn lanes, there was the red car. I even got a bit ahead of him.
A rather dorky looking man was looking down at something, then held a cell phone up to his left ear.
Driving fast is such an easy way to prove your coolness and masculinity. You don’t have to work out and build muscle, you don’t have to make babies, all you do is crank the car and step on the gas.
At least he didn’t have a chrome fish on his red car.