Line Mining The Sonnets
Find the sonnets of Shakespeare. Copy them into a word document. Read each one, and isolate the lines that resonate. Match up the lines by rhyme. Compile villanelles when appropriate. Retrofit rhymes onto others, pair them into couplets. Incorporate them into sonnets and octrains. Since the lines are already iambic pentameter, there should be minimal metric revision.
It became obvious that hearing them read would work better. A lovely source turned up. Earlier this year, Sir Patrick Stewart read a sonnet a day. The actor sat down, put his glasses on, opened his book, and read a sonnet for the camera. There were little comments, about the poems, scattered throughout the videos. With the aid of Sir Patrick, I began to get a sense for the iambic feng shui. In my own craft, I have long struggled with meter. Maybe this will help.
Everything is lower case in my graphic poems. There is no punctuation. It soon became apparent that commas were essential to the pacing of the sonnets. As for the capital letters, it is likely that Mr. Shakespeare capitalized. This was a few hundred years before e. e. cummings.
How do we know for sure? The original manuscripts are not available. “None of Shakespeare’s original manuscripts have survived, due perhaps to the fact that they were written, many of them hastily, strictly for stage performance. Not so much as a couplet written in Shakespeare’s own hand has ever been proven to exist.” There is speculation as to the true authorship of these pieces.
“Shakespeare’s sonnets were first published together in 1609 as a quarto, athough they were probably written much earlier. The sonnets, far more popular today than the epic poems, are still published both individually and as a group.” How did these sonnets get from the desk, to the printed page?
Sonnet LIV ends with “When that shall vade, my verse distills your truth.” @SirPatStew commented on the word vade, just as I was ready to take a google break. A site, Shakespeare’s Words, appeared. Vade seems to be the same word as fade. And no, this blog was not named for Sonnet 54.
1609 not only saw the publication of the sonnets, but the production of the King James Bible. There are legends that Mr. Shakespeare was involved in this project. “Because, if you count 46 words from the beginning of Psalm 46 and 46 words from the ending of the psalm (not counting the “Selahs”), you arrive at these two words: “shake” and “spear.” … Shakespeare would have been 46 years old in 1610, when scholars were finalizing the translations for publication the following year.”
Some Bible scholars are not fond of this story. “Nevertheless, just like the idiotic claim that King James was a sodomite, the story will undoubtedly be repeated ad nauseum no matter how thoroughly it has been discredited.” Less debunkable is this: “William Shakespeare is an anagram of ‘Here was I, like a psalm.'” Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Eighteen Questions Part Two
A few days ago I recycled a 2008 post, with 18 questions shared by the late Michael Liebmann. Many of the issues discussed have seen dramatic changes in the last 16 years. It might be fun to take a look at these 18 questions through the lens of 2024.
01. Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey? · Sharing dangerous opinions was always been risky. When you have a blog that “nobody reads,” it is a bit safer to stick your red neck out.
02. Would you do meth if it was legal? · No. I agree with Abby Hoffman … speed is a body fuck drug. Those who sell it should be severely punished. He also said the only dope worth shooting was Richard Nixon. Our current leaders make Tricky Dick seem reasonable.
03. Abortion: for or against it? · Oh my, how this issue has changed. Roe v. Wade took a long time to overturn, and it will take even longer to reinstate. Abortion is now a state issue, for better or worse. The a-word is an emotionally charged issue. Almost anything you say, or don’t say, is going to upset somebody. As a gay man, I have been exempt from many of the tough decisions faced by others. I am rather reluctant to tell other, more involved, people what they should do.
04. Do you think the world would fail with a female president? · When we have a president of the world, we can think about this more. In the last 8 years Democrats have had 2 women candidates for President. Both Hillary and Kamala are incredibly flawed performers, who lost to the orange haired antichrist. The first job of the president is to get elected.
05. Do you believe in the death penalty? · I apply Bill Clinton’s take on abortion to the death penalty. “______ should be safe, legal, and rare.” There is one other “life issue,” war. By it’s very nature, war is not safe, but it is usually legal. If only we could make war rare.
06. Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already? · Reefer is legal in many states now. Unfortunately, Georgia is not one of them. We may be seeing a backlash against legal pot in the near future, or maybe not. This could be a good issue for Donald Trump to step up on.
07. Are you for or against premarital sex? · People are always going to fuck.
08. Do you believe in God? · The key word in that sentence is believe, not God. IMHO, God probably exists, in some form or another. The question is whether or not you approach her through belief. Beliefs are just opinions on steroids.
09. Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized? · This is an obsolete question. SSM seems to be firmly entrenched in our culture, and probably will not go anywhere.
10. Do you think it’s wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA? · This is similar to my views on abortion. My ancestors have been in America for hundreds of years. I am not a poor person, desperately trying to survive economic hardship or a repressive government. Those who do will have a dramatically different point of view.
11. A twelve year old girl has a baby, should she keep it? · I don’t understand this. Does it refer to a 12yo getting pregnant, and being forced to carry the child to term? Or does it mean a 12yo, with an already delivered infant? Are we going to forcibly take the child away, even if there is a family to support and assist? We need more information.
12. Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen? · Yes, but this is not going to happen. In the seventies, 18 year olds could drink, and boy did we ever. A few years later, the federal government made federal highway money dependent on a 21 yo drinking age. While many of us support a return to the 18 yo party days, it probably is not going to happen.
13. Should the war in Iraq be called off? · The war in Iraq eventually petered out on its own. Eventually, the killing moved across the border into Syria, which was weakened dramatically. Syria is not a factor in the current Israeli holocaust wars, which may have been the ultimate goal of both the Syrian civil war, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
14. Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree? · I said in the earlier piece that offing yourself should not require the assistance of a doctor. I have not changed my mind.
15. Do you believe in spanking your children? · As someone who does not have any children, it is not appropriate for me to have opinions.
16. Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars? · In recent years I have declared war on people leaving unwanted flags in stranger’s yards. Some people see this as a good way to advertise their products. This is a greater desecration than burning a flag.
17. Who do you think would make a better president? · Almost anyone.
18. Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers? · If it got someone to put down facebook long enough to read something, I am pleased.
Winching The Dead
A recent post included the phrase “getting severely overweight dead people out of an apartment building.” Those are googling words. Most of the results are hand wringing about the number of overweight people. A couple of the results were worth clicking out.
The headline result is from Merry Olde England, which is becoming known as the fattest country in Europe. Fire service called in 50 times to winch fat people out.
“Paramedics in the West Midlands have had to call on their heavy-lifting emergency service colleagues, despite having extra equipment to help move extremely heavy patients themselves. Over a three-year period they called in West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service on 50 occasions, so the patients could be winched out with apparatus designed for lifting car wrecks. Sometimes morbidly obese patients, … can only be extracted from their homes after a window is taken out, say firefighters.
… Nick Harrison, chairman of the West Midlands Fire Brigades Union, said: “In most cases these people are quite elderly and are suffering from serious medical issues which have left them bedridden for a long time, and they have put on a lot of weight. “Many times we have to remove the whole window frame and get them out that way. It’s a lot safer both for them and for the rescuers.”
… Official statistics show the West Midlands to be the fattest region in Britain, which is itself the fattest major country in Europe. According to the Association of Public Health Observatories, about 25 per cent of adults in Britain are now clinically obese. In the West Midlands, the figure is 29 per cent. By comparison, across the European Union as a whole it is just 14 per cent. “
One of the commenters had a constructive suggestion: “The ‘feeders’ should be brought to court and punished. For every obese person there is one or more ‘feeders’, who shop, supply the food, help the person eat it etc. Being a ‘feeder’ should be a criminal offense.”
This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Kamala Will Be On
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Israel WEAK and TERRIFIED: Iran’s SUPERIOR Defenses Crush IDF w/ Ben Norton
Joe’s Thoughts on the Trump Podcast and If Kamala Will Be On
Grateful Dead Legend Phil Lesh Dies at 84: Cause of Death and Final Words Unveiled.
Records show Emory may have a claim to portion of Druid Hills High property
The Darryl Cooper Interview (AKA Martyrmade) Part I – Christianity, the Jews, …
Harold Bloom interview on “Jesus and Yahweh” (2005) Charlie Rose
Trump Cancels All His Events in Favor of One of the Worst People Ever
Harold Bloom interview on “Jesus and Yahweh” (2005) with Charlie Rose
Glenn & John Throw Down over Ta-Nehisi Coates | Glenn Loury & John McWhorter
Harold Bloom on Why Contemporary Poetry Sucks (Full) Hint: Modern Poems Are Bad …
S8E40: From the Hip with Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
American Psycho Author Bret Easton Ellis’ Boyfriend Arrested, Charged with Trespassing
nolan plantation · roy cohn · howard stern · jd vance · dresden drive
donnie trump · comorbisity · perpetrate · phil lesh · blue plastic cowboy
five o’clock somewhere · jbl tune buds · gary indiana · gsu · sting
JBL Live Free 2 · jbl tune flex · 4409 bradley dr · ray · risk
select shorts · true crime garage · up vanished · the daily · reflector · fiction
escapepod · pjvogt · mind killer · mind killer · chudai · Myocardial ischemia
GGACP presents Frank DeCaro … discusses his book, “Drag: Combing Through the Big Wigs of Show Business.” Also in this episode: Tommy Velour! “Jethrine” Bodine! The artistry of Charles Pierce! The other side of Flip Wilson! Uncle Miltie’s “meaty tuck”! And Herman Munster becomes a cocktail waitress! · gsu · This is a repost from 2013. · This is a repost. · reruns are an important part of publishing a blog. When you are too lazy to produce new material, you pull something out of the archive. Today we have a book report, of a @tomboyle book about Tim Leary. · There is a trending topic, #IDFfoodies. If you look at it, you will see tweets that say “Tumbuh Bersama Membangun Ketahanan Pangan Indonesia!” … “Growing Together to Build Indonesia’s Food Security!” · Ben Franklin wrote a letter in 1755, supporting the right of the Colonial government to assess taxes. Today, that quote is used by tax-hating conservatives. @QuoteResearch · there is a thread on reddit. “Do you think the jews in israel might be possibly more evil than the regular german civilian in 1940?” The Germany did not publicly defend what they were doing to the Jews. Israel defends and excuses what they are doing in Gaza and Lebanon, and blames it on the people they are slaughtering. · This is a repost from 2013. On June 10, 2018, Briarcliff United Methodist Church Briarcliff United Methodist Church held its final Sunday service. The building is currently used by The Globe Academy. … · “I read the book I urge people to read the book we’re gonna sell the book here whether you like it or not.” · “you know what’s funny you need at least the attitude of a comedian when you’re doing this business” · pictures today are from The Library of Congress · selah
The Church Sign
This is a repost from 2013. On June 10, 2018, Briarcliff United Methodist Church held its final Sunday service. The building is currently used by The Globe Academy. Traffic on Briarcliff Road never changes. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Religion is very personal. When you have a miserable experience with Jesus, it will not go away because of glib expressions of “faith.” When you put a sign by the road, you don’t know who is going to see it. You don’t know how they are going to be feeling.
I was driving to dinner one night, when I drove by Briarcliff United Methodist Church. The facility is on a busy road. They have a sign in front, with a message that changes from time to time. This night, I was in a bad mood. I was thinking about people who have humiliated me for Jesus. The sign in front of BUMC said “When was the last time you prayed?”
The concept of prayer is collateral damage in my struggle with Jesus. As I became alienated from Jesus, the idea of a person talking to God appeared selfish and self aggrandizing. There is something about having an angry bully for Jesus snarling “I’m going to pray for you brother” that makes the concept of prayer repulsive.
There is another thing to consider here. Pushy Christians assume that they have the right to grill you about a sensitive personal issue. The idea of saying this to passing motorists is incredibly disrespectful. It is none of your business if I pray.
I looked up BUMC on the internet when I got home. They have a modern website. The top tab on the menu said “Prayer Requests.” This is for people who want someone to pray for them. Maybe you can leave a prayer non-request. Ask them to respect discomfort with their religion, and don’t put intrusive messages by the roadside.
Further down on the website is an email address (church@briarcliffumc.com.) While not expecting a miracle, I decided to send them an email. Here is the text of that message.
You have a message board in front of your church. The message when I went by was “When was the last time you prayed?” I was offended by this message.
I have had a tough time with religion. I have been humiliated many, many times because of Jesus. I have heard about your scheme for life after death thousands of times, and simply do not agree with it. An intrusive roadway sign is not going to change my mind.
My belief is that my opinions about God are none of your business. If I trust you, then we can have a discussion. Having a rude sign by the road side is not going to help me trust you.
Even though it is none of your business, I am going to answer your question. Even though I was talking to God, and not to you, I am going to repeat what I said. “God please help these people to have respect for their neighbor, and take that awful sign down”.
What Ben Franklin Really Said
It is a popular line. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” The credit, or blame, for this gem is assigned to Ben Franklin. Did he really say it? What was he talking about?
The good news is that Mr. Franklin did say these words. (Here is the text.) What follows was written by a lawyer. Prepare to be confused.
“The words appear originally in a 1755 letter that Franklin is presumed to have written on behalf of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the colonial governor during the French and Indian War. The letter was a salvo in a power struggle between the governor and the Assembly over funding for security on the frontier, one in which the Assembly wished to tax the lands of the Penn family, which ruled Pennsylvania from afar, to raise money for defense against French and Indian attacks. The governor kept vetoing the Assembly’s efforts at the behest of the family, which had appointed him. So to start matters, Franklin was writing not as a subject being asked to cede his liberty to government, but in his capacity as a legislator being asked to renounce his power to tax lands notionally under his jurisdiction. In other words, the “essential liberty” to which Franklin referred was thus not what we would think of today as civil liberties but, rather, the right of self-governance of a legislature in the interests of collective security.”
Mr. Franklin was writing on behalf of legislators who wanted to assess a tax. The quote is used by tax hating conservatives. The modern conservative wants to send a hundred thousand troops to a conflict eight time zones away, and pay for it with tax cuts.
Another article tells much the same story, but with a couple of twists. There is a google gimmick that shows how often a quote is used. The BF quote was little known until the twentieth century.
The techcrunch article introduces a dandy word for the rampant misuse of quotes. The word is contextomy. This explanation is from Matthew McGlone of the University of Texas at Austin.
“‘Contextomy’ refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original linguistic context in a way that distorts the source’s intended meaning, a practice commonly referred to as ‘quoting out of context’. Contextomy is employed in contemporary mass media to promote products, defame public figures and misappropriate rhetoric. A contextomized quotation not only prompts audiences to form a false impression of the source’s intentions, but can contaminate subsequent interpretation of the quote when it is restored to its original context.”
The spell check suggestion for contextomy is contentment. This is a repost. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.”
Be Kind To Your Enemy
Did Jesus say to “Love your enemy”? Some believe this, and do it. Some claim to believe this, and practice the opposite. There are others who claim to love their enemies, but you have to understand what they mean by it. It can be very confusing. This is a repost.
I went to a source for documentation. Oh, the blessed conjunction of copy/paste with public domain. When I entered enemy (singular) in the search engine, 100 verses came up. When the request was made plural (enemies), 237 entries popped up. The last mention of enemies is Revelation 11:12 “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Loving your enemies does not include bringing them to heaven with you.There is also the star of the show.
Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
There is scholarly debate about what Jesus did, or did not, say. The words available to modern man have been copied by hand, edited, translated, and interpreted. I do not know Aramaic from Alabama. Like anyone else, I can only read and listen, and think for myself.
In a sense it does not matter what Jesus “really” said. Christians are going to believe what they want to believe. More important, they are going to do what they want to do. As far as the difference between what Jesus “really” said, and what his believers say and do … they can explain.
What follows is a humble suggestion. Did the translators and scribes get it wrong? Maybe Jesus did not say to love your enemy. Maybe what Jesus said was to show kindness to everyone. This is a practice thing, rather than a belief thing.
It is not as much fun to be nice to someone, as it is to scream about life after death. Kindness does not need to be justified by a quote from a magic book. You just need to do it. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Third Friday
humanesque highway · foghorn foggy stomping boots · forgot bio this!
Friday morning, before halloween, is a day for more doctors, less peace of mind, the anticipation of another election from hell, the sure knowledge that the end of humanity is in the greedy insane fingers of pyrocrats that you have no control over, but do have a good excuse for their horrid behavior.
NEVER too old · weird do NOT share your bank account · meds not the fun kind!
NEVER is a word that should always be in all caps. NEVER is a warning, and message that some things should not be done if you value your life, or anything else. NEVER is an absolute, and absolutes have a way of being violated as a sign of suicidal resistance.
ANAL JIM CROW VIEW · nonsense PRIDE PARADE? ONLY · AMERICA true!!!
Jumping Jim Crow always looked at things from the end. A minstrel show was a nonsense pride parade, even if seldom trending on twitter or in the queue on youtube. Only in America.
psychoanal art · never mating if you don’t · hear the dead knowledge
All true art originates in the anal sphincter. Like opinions emerging from the bowels of reality, fueled by the junk food beliefs of the elders, art is highly anagrammic. art atr rat rta tar tra. trl la la la la on the trolley, clang clang clang
look people trauma · organ procrastination · 12 week willpower
Anyone can have 12 week willpower, even if you put it off. Little trauma is required, especially if you use a piano instead of an organ. Looking at people trauma is not always in good taste, especially if you get caught too often.
beautiful nothing · race creed inebriation · yellow salvation
Waffle House is what Waffle House is. The bright yellow beacon at the long end of a Georgia night, where the hash browns, and the people, are always scattered and smothered. If you go down Peachtree, and take a right at the Waffle House, you get to the Big Chicken.
The 1956 Legislature And The Flag
This is a repost from 2018, when Stacey was first running for Governor. … What Stacey Abrams said about burning the Georgia flag in 1992 The New York Times decided to show a picture of a younger, slimmer Stacey Abrams burning the Georgia state flag. The year was 1992. The state flag had the Confederate battle flag embedded. People were asking the legislature to change that. Miss Abrams was a student activist. This is an edited repost.
The NYT article sparked a twitter dogpile, about the motives of the Georgia legislature in 1956. I remember 1993, when the initial proposal to change the flag was made. Changing The Flag is an account of those years. If you have a minute, you should read that post before going any further. The people who wanted to change the flag introduced an argument. They said that the legislature changed the flag, in 1956, as a protest against integration. I never believed that. One afternoon in 1994, I found a newspaper article that supported his point of view. After that, I did not think much about the issue. The flag was changed in 2000 and 2003.
The issue has a few shades of gray. The reason given in 1956 was honoring the Confederacy. In 1993, the 1956 legislature was said to be protesting integration. The emotions of honoring the Confederacy, and denouncing integration, are not entirely separate. Many of the same people, who are proud of the Confederacy, are white supremacists. To an outsider, they can seem like the same thing. I can understand how someone not familiar with Georgia could mistake the two.
The debate, over the motive of the 1956 legislature, was never necessary. The flag, featuring the Confederate battle flag, was seen as a symbol of racism. Many people were offended by this flag. Why not just say we should change the flag for this reason, and not worry what the legislature was thinking? However, this was not good enough. People needed some more ammunition for their fight. The notion that the flag was changed as a protest against desegregation was born. I never heard, before 1993, that the flag was changed as a protest against integration. People believed this notion without any evidence, just because somebody said so. 1994 was 38 years after 1956. Very few people in 1994 were active in 1956. The argument in favor of the changed-to-protest-integration notion had two parts: (1) Because I said so, (2) if you disagree you are a racist idiot.
@KevinMKruse “No, she burned the old *Georgia* flag, which had been designed specifically by white supremacists as a show of defiance to desegregation in 1956. Let’s dig in.” @chamblee54 “The Flag was not changed as a protest against desegregation. Changing The Flag” @KevinMKruse “I literally wrote a book on this, but congratulations on finding a blog post.” @chamblee54 “I wrote the blog post. If you read the post, you will see I did research. Did anyone say at the time that the new flag was a protest? Do you have a link to this?”
@JoshCStephenso “You found a single article? Maybe you would trust a paper written by the Deputy Director of the Georgia Senate Research Office – a chamber that is majority R?” This tweet was helpful. The report was written in 2000, before the new flag was driven through the legislature. If you have the time to read the complete report, it is worth your time. If not, a few quotes will be posted here, along with a few helpful comments.
The first Confederate flag looked a great deal like the Union flag. In early battles of the war, the two flags were often confused. “The commanding Confederate officer at the Battle of Bull Run, General P.T.G. Beauregard, determined that a single distinct battle flag was needed for the entire Confederate army. Confederate Congressman William Porcher Miles recommended a design incorporating St. Andrew’s Cross.”… “Other flags such as State regimental colors were used by the Confederacy on the battlefield, but the battle flag, although it was never officially recognized by the Confederate government, came to represent the Confederate army.”
At first, use of the battle flag was restricted to historic events. It wasn’t until the fifties that the flag began to be used by those who fought integration. In 1954, Brown vs. Board of Education was handed down by the Supreme Court, ordering the integration of schools. The Georgia legislature went into resistance mode, and spent a lot of time denouncing integration. The senate research office devotes page after page to these efforts. Finally, “In early 1955, John Sammons Bell, chairman of the State Democratic Party … suggested a new state flag for Georgia that would incorporate the Confederate Battle Flag. At the 1956 session of the General Assembly, state senators Jefferson Lee Davis and Willis Harden introduced Senate Bill 98 to change the state flag. Signed into law on February 13, 1956, the bill became effective the following July 1.”
“Little information exists as to why the flag was changed, there is no written record of what was said on the Senate and House floors or in committee and Georgia does not include a statement of legislative intent when a bill is introduced – SB 98 simply makes reference to the “Battle Flag of the Confederacy.” … “Many defenders of the flag, including former governor Ernest Vandiver, who served as the Lieutenant Governor in 1956, have attempted to refute the belief that the battle flag was added in defiance of the Supreme Court rulings. Vandiver, in a letter to the Atlanta Constitution, insisted that the discussion on the bill centered around the coming centennial of the Civil War and that the flag was meant to be a memorial to the bravery, fortitude and courage of the men who fought and died on the battlefield for the Confederacy.”
This is where it gets murky. It is apparent that the legislature was obsessed with integration. The circumstantial evidence, of the flag being changed as a protest of integration, is there. However, there is no smoking gun. There are no apparent statements, from 1956, saying that this change was made to protest integration. This detail seems to have sprung up in 1993, without having been widely mentioned in the 37 years since 1956. The newspaper article I found does not mention a protest against integration, and does mention a desire to honor the Confederacy.
“The argument that the flag was changed in 1956 in preparation for the approaching Civil War centennial appears to be a retrospective or after-the-fact argument. In other words, no one in 1956, including the flag’s sponsors, claimed that the change was in anticipation of the coming anniversary. Those who subscribe to this argument have adopted it long after the flag had been changed.” This is contradicted by the newspaper article, and statements by “Governor Griffin’s floor leader, Representative Denmark Groover … “anything we in Georgia can do to preserve the memory of the Confederacy is a step forward.” As for the after-the-fact argument, you could say the same thing about the notion that the flag was changed as a protest against integration.
John Sammons Bell is a name that keeps coming up. From 1954 to 1960, Mr. Bell was Chairman of the State’s Democratic Party. He was, by all accounts, an enthusiastic segregationist. One of the jaw dropping moments in the senate report was this: “Bell, a one-time supporter of Governor Ellis Arnall, once had the reputation of being a “liberal” on race issues.”
To sum up, the Georgia state flag was changed in 1956. The new flag contained the Confederate battle flag. Many people were offended by the 1956 flag. I thought it was ugly. Many others saw it, with some justification, as a symbol of racism. For some reason, speculation about the motives of the 1956 legislature arose. 24 years after the passage of a new flag, people are still arguing over the motives of the 1956 legislature. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Previous postings of this feature include many details omitted today.
Believe Nothing You Hear
“Believe nothing you hear, and only one-half that you see.” These are words always true. Moving lips tell lies, and wiggling fingers type nonsense. This is the case no matter which medium you work in.
Mankind started with “stories” told from one person to another. Then we started to write down these tales. After a few millennia, some Germans invented a device to print “stuff.” Next, people turned these thoughts into digital scratches, and spread them on a computer. Today, we are moving on to artificial intelligence, to transmit the genuine stupidity of the ages.
@itsgivingkyle “A cautionary tale about trusting AI: I recently heard a quote from a Tiktok “Believe nothing you hear, and half of what you see” and wanted to investigate its origin. · From a Google search, I found that the quote is commonly referenced from Edgar Allen Poe’s short story “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” · I asked @AnthropicAI’s Claude model to give me a synopsis. The story is about an unnamed narrator visiting a mental asylum after hearing about a new rehabilitation process called “the soothing cure” · Eventually the narrator would find out that the guests at the dinner were actually the patients, who had locked up the staff. I asked Claude “where in the story does the quote come up?” · It said, “The quote “Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see” is not actually used in Poe’s story … · Confused, I copy and pasted the passage used from @QuoteResearch and said “Is this not in the story”? · “Claude swiftly replies: “I deeply apologize for my significant error in my previous responses. You are absolutely correct, and I was mistaken. The quote is indeed in the story … by Edgar Allan Poe. · Ironically, the same “proverb” I was looking up applies directly to this story. It’s common to think that computers don’t make mistakes – but AI is not exactly a computer, and makes mistakes from time to time. · So I leave you with this message: do not believe anything you hear, and only half of what you read.”
I have not read the full text of TSODTAPF. A rule of quotations is that you should only comment on texts that you have read. However, with the questionable help of wikipedia, I can offer a summary. A young man is traveling in France. There are rumors of a new way to treat the mentally ill. …
“I had heard, at Paris, that the institution of Monsieur Maillard was managed upon what is vulgarly termed the “system of soothing” — that all punishments were avoided — that even confinement was seldom resorted to — that the patients, while secretly watched, were left much apparent liberty, and that most of them were permitted to roam about the house and grounds in the ordinary apparel of persons in right mind.” Soon, the young man meets M. Maillard. He does not like what he hears.
“And you have now changed all this—and you think for the better?” · “Decidedly. The system had its disadvantages, and even its dangers. It is now, happily, exploded throughout all the Maisons de Santé of France.” · “I am very much surprised,” I said, “at what you tell me; for I made sure that, at this moment, no other method of treatment for mania existed in any portion of the country.”
“You are young yet, my friend,” replied my host, “but the time will arrive when you will learn to judge for yourself of what is going on in the world, without trusting to the gossip of others. Believe nothing you hear, and only one-half that you see. Now about our Maisons de Santé, it is clear that some ignoramus has misled you. After dinner, however, when you have sufficiently recovered from the fatigue of your ride, I will be happy to take you over the house, and introduce to you a system which, in my opinion, and in that of every one who has witnessed its operation, is incomparably the most effectual as yet devised.”
It is possible that the “system of soothing” was working well, and M. Malliard was a bad actor who elbowed his way into a position of authority. Or maybe TSODTAPF is just a story from the overcooked imagination of Eddie Poe. M. Malliard is another talking bird saying nevermore.
Google … another institution with fading integrity … has some curious replies. A video that purports to show Barry Obama talking has this text superimposed: “Believe nothing you hear and only one half that you see” With the massive influx of AI and Deep Fakes, the above quote by Edgar Allan Poe is no longer valid. Crazy, isn’t it? The above video was created using argil.ai. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. We can be reasonably sure that these pictures are genuine.
I Brought My Own Pears
How many South Americans does it take to screw in a lightbulb? A Brazillian.
My grandpa has the heart of a lion, and a lifetime ban from the zoo.
What do you get when you cross the Atlantic with the Titanic? About half way
So a squirrel living in a pine tree one day feels a shaking, looks down, and sees an elephant climbing the tree. The squirrel asks: “What are you doing climbing my tree?”
”Well, I’m coming up here to eat some pears” “This is a pine tree, there are no pears.”
“Well I brought my own pears.”
Why can’t Ray Charles see his friends? Cause he’s married.
If you ever get cold, just stand in a corner for a bit. They’re usually around 90 degrees.
When my Grandad was 65 he started running a mile a day to keep fit.
He’s 70 now and we have no idea where he is.
Why do you never see elephants hiding in trees? …….because they’re really good at it.
I think I want a job cleaning mirrors. it’s just something I could really see myself doing.
There are two monkeys in a bath tub. One says to another: oohoohahah!
The other says: Maybe add a little more cold water.
Did you hear about the two guys that stole a calendar? They each got six months.
Whats the difference between a dirty bus stop, and a lobster with breast implants? Ones a crusty bus station the other is a busty crustacean
So this guy walks into his bedroom with a chicken under his arm. His wife is laying in bed. The guy says, “This is the pig I fuck when you are not in the mood.”
”You fucking idiot. That’s not a pig!” “I was talking to the chicken.”
Two fish are in a tank. One is driving and the other one is operating the gun.
Two soldiers are in a tank. They both drown.
A priest, a rabbi, and a whale walk into a bar. The priest says, “Well I believe Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of God and my lord and savior, so I’ll have some wine.”
The rabbi says, “Well I don’t believe the messiah has yet walked the earth, so I’ll have Manischewitz wine.” The whale says “EEOONNHH”
What do you call a chicken coop with 4 doors? a chicken sedan.
Why aren’t there any knock knock jokes about freedom? Because freedom rings
What’s a hillbilly’s favorite thing to do on Halloween? pumpkin
What happened to the cow that jumped over the barbed wire fence? Udder destruction.
Where do animals go when their tails fall off? The retail store
What time does Sean Connery get to Wimbledon? Tennish.
What did the doctor say to the midget waiting in the lobby?
You’re just going to have to be a little patient.
A magician was driving down the road when he turned into a driveway.
What do you call a fish with no eyes? Fsh!
“I went to a zoo. It was completely empty, except for a single dog. It was a Shih Tzu.”
“Dad, I’m hungry.” “Hi, Hungry. I’m Dad.”
“I’m thirsty.” “Hi, Thursday, I’m Friday, let’s go out on a Saturday and have a Sunday.”
The only joke my dad ever told me was that he’d quit beating me. I was in stitches.
A man with carrots in his ears walks onto a bus, the bus driver says “Sir, why do you have carrots in your ears?” “WHAT? I CAN’T HEAR YOU, I HAVE CARROTS IN MY EARS!”
Did you hear about the Mexican train killer? They say he had locomotives.
Nobody knows who to blame for these alleged jokes. Chamblee54 does not claim authorship, and would deny it if he did. This material was previously published. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Chamblee54 
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