Bridget Phetasy
Joe Rogan Experience #1367 – Bridget Phetasy hit the ether last week. Miss Phetasy bills herself as Writer, Comedian, Verified Nobody. Her real name is Bridget Anna Walsh. The visit to the Rogan show was impressive. Three minutes in, Miss Phetasy made a meme worthy comment.
03:00 “I don’t blame myself for that happening but I do have to take responsibility for the fact that when you’re a woman or a girl and you’re out getting blacked out … bad things happen.” Where was this voice of reason during the Brock Turner circus? A young lady, with a history of blackout drinking, passes out behind a dumpster. This was scarcely mentioned in all the outrage about Brock Turner.
Before going further with this, we can mention a couple of youtube gadgets. If you look under the viewing window, you see three dots. If you click on those dots, you will be able to see a transcript of the show. You copy some of this text, and make a comment. If you put the time of the text in your comment, youtube will make a link to the text. That is how the link, at the start of the paragraph above, was made. The link goes directly to the “don’t blame myself” comment.
Bridget Phetasy is a cool person. She has a youtube show, Dumpster Fire. She likes to make fun of sjw goofiness … a topic that never runs out of material. At 3:48 of the latest episode, she dropped this tidbit: “moving on … clapping banned at Oxford University to stop people from being triggered” She ranted for a few minutes, leading up to this: “around this they banned clapping banned it like I’m gonna end up in the gulag someday fucking clapping I know by these people.”
PG had never heard of this, and wanted to know more. There were several tabloid articles, and this: ‘University of Oxford Clapping Ban’ Rumor. This is the danger of saying “google it.” Someone might find information that you don’t want them to find.
“The first Student Council meeting of the academic year, … passed the motion to mandate the Sabbatical Officers to encourage the use of British Sign Language (BSL) clapping, otherwise known as ‘silent jazz hands’ at Student Council meetings and other official SU events. … BSL clapping is used by the National Union of Students since loud noises, including whooping and traditional applause, are argued to present an access issue for some disabled students who have anxiety disorders, sensory sensitivity, and/or those who use hearing impairment aids.”
Clapping out loud is not banned. Nobody is going to the gulag for applauding. While some noise-weary people might appreciate the use of jazz hands, this ban is simply not going to happen. Bridget Phetasy does not always know what she is talking about. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The spell check suggestion for Phetasy is Pheasant. This is a repost.
Podcasts Part Two
This is tuesday morning, which means download podcasts. I did a post about these shows last tuesday. Of course, this feature will be posted on wednesday, because of the conspiracy. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Part three is also available.
@disgracelandpod “What spawned the #GratefulDead? Deadly folk tales, dire wolves and murder ballads. Listen to part two of the Grateful Dead in Disgraceland, an origin story, the ballad of #Pigpen.” Many non-naive people already know that the dead have a healthy *dose* of music business nasty. Later this week, “Dead and Gone” takes a long look at missing and murdered deadheads. Atlanta based @paynelindsey is the co-host.
This is Criminal had a new show. This true crime how is produced in North Carolina, and has delivered many, many times. The most recent show is Dr. Parkman is Missing. “In the mid-1800s, Harvard Medical School had a reputation for being a “den of body snatchers.” And then, in November 1849, the school’s most prominent supporter went missing.”
Selected Shorts is a stationary bike favorite. SS is not always good for this. The ATT 40440 has a media player that does not fast forward. If you get stuck on a sticky story, then your only option is to listen to it, or turn it off. This past monday, the first story on SS was about a yuppie couple. They have board game nights with other yuppie couples. Everybody involved is insufferable, and the story was a drag. Meanwhile, the controls on the stationary bike were having performance anxiety. Just muddle through, until it is time to go home.
The Truth is another show that works when you are pedaling to nowhere. TT focuses on technology, and modern culture. One episode had a phone that knew all a young girls secrets. The phone told the best friend that phonegirl was borrowing her boyfriend.
Futility Closet is an old favorite, with a companion blog. Sharon and Greg Ross tell tales of history, usually lasting about twenty minutes. A recent episode, The Taliesin Murders, is about Frank Lloyd Wright. The famed architect apparently was a piece of work.
Bawdy Storytelling is a gem. Host-with-the-most Dixie De La Tour introduces tales of sexual adventure, running the gamut from analcuisine to zoophiliality. The start of BS features the best theme song in podistan.
Reply All is a corporate-hip show about the internet. Sometimes it is fun, sometimes it is a snooze. A recent show, #166 Country of Liars, takes a look at the q-anon phenomenon. The more you know about q-a, the less interesting it is.
Motel One Star Reviews
PG was listening to a podcast. Some of the action took place in a tacky motel. The narrator mentioned a review of this motel. A guest said he complained to the staff about roaches in the room. The motel employee said the roaches were high, and that they would not bother anybody.
This got PG curious, which is never a good idea. He googled “high roaches motel.” He could not find the comment from the podcast, but did find reviews of two motels in Texas. A later search for “worst motel in Georgia” turned up a third suspect. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Today’s pictures are all white men. The older, and the gnarlier, the better.
Beachtree Motel, 3126 Avenue S, Galveston, Galveston Island, TX 77550
“The tub was so disgusting we were better off bathing on the beach! Dust..outdated tv…bootleg rigged plumbing and lights… and to top it off the owner walked around all night and his wife checked me out with crust in her eye and no bra!”
“It was filled with junkies and Acoholics hanging in the doorways asking for cigarettes. I could not sleep all night because the drug people were up all thur the nite slamming doors, shouting and fighting and starting up their cars to go make their drug buys. The furniture looked like it came out of the goodwill store from the 50’s.”
“We went for a girls weekend and stayed in this awful place. It was so disgusting! We killed several bugs, water bugs and roaches! We had to go buy sheets because theirs were so gross, bought towels because theirs were covered in hair and bought lysol and bleach wipes to wipe everything down! Not to mention the meth heads that wondered the parking lot and came back so drunk and high from the bar they kept trying to walk into our room.”
“Jigsaw the clown would be disgusted to lock you up in here”
Gulfway Motel, 365 Hwy 124, High Island, TX 77623
“Dead bugs and dirt along with a couple of paint chips around the sink. The light fixture above the sink would not work and it was rusty. There were two bulbs missing out of it. I took a bath and ended with paint chips all over me because the poorly painted bathtub was not just beginning to flake apart, it appeared that it had been doing so for some time. … I also had to walk through bird poop(a good ammount) to get to my room. This is because a bird nest was right in front of my door and every time the bird takes off it has to fly over this spot.”
“The first thing to hit us was the odor. Many couldn’t place it, but it seemed like insecticide … The next thing that greeted us was three dead sewer roaches–not the little brown things, but the two-inch guys that look like they belong more in the Amazon jungles. No amenities, cracks in the tub base and elsewhere–obviously where this monsters hang out during the day, one meager bar of soap, a quarter roll of toilette paper with no additional roll. I knocked on the office door, the dog barked, but no one came out. I finally borrowed an extra roll of T.P. from another trip-mate’s room.”
“Only two rooms were adequate, all others contained a film of dirt on everything, stained carpets, and strange odors. The bed comforters had questionalbe stains on them and hair. … The swimming pool was green with algae and there was a dead bird”
Super Inn, 301 Fulton Industrial Cir, Atlanta, GA 30336.
“Nasty i moved the sheets back and found things that are used for drug use ..so dirty i tried to post pics of the lube on base of lamp i mean alot if it”
“We arrived after 11 pm so didn’t notice this hotel was surrounded by strip clubs…luckily we were fine once inside, but when my partner went outside for a smoke he was propositioned by a prostitute…the second time he went out there were 2 prostitutes fighting and the one was threatening that her pimp was going to come down (from the hotel)…one of them had a small board with nails as a weapon. My partner was too scared to try to intervene in the fight and just came in to warn us not to come out.”
“There are at least three strip clubs right across the street, in which, prostitution is going on too and they end up at Super Inn. … They kept slamming the doors in the hallway ALL NIGHT!!!!! It didn’t stop until 5 a.m.”
“Upon arrival, we were greeted by multiple prostitutes and their pimp/ drug dealer. The place is located in an alley with several strip clubs in sight. After making my way past the prostitutes, there was no one in the lobby. A prostitute informed us to knock on the door to get the office managers attention. Against my better judgment, I took the key and made my way past more prostitutes smoking pot in the main hallway/lobby. Once in the room, I found at least FIVE car air fresheners hanging throughout the room trying to cover the musty/smoky smell in my “non smoking” room.”
“With the stares we got from the men and prostitutes coming in and out of the hotel I felt like fresh meat among a pack of wild dogs. The taxi driver stated he could not leave us here so we got back in the vehicle and drove back to the airport.”
“First of all there are 4 strip clubs across the road from the hotel. Secondly, there was about 5 prostitutes at the entrance of the hotel. When we went into the lobby we asked the clerk if it was safe there and he said, “of course, why do you ask?” and I said, “because there are about 5 prostitues standing at the entrance” then he said, ” NO, they don’t come on my property, you have nothing to worry about. They aren’t allowed in this hotel”. We believed that until that night when we saw him give the prostitutes a room key!!!!! The whole weekend stay the prostitutes were cold I guess so they were prostituting from the lobby of the hotel! Their pimps were outside bringing in the customers. I saw this with my two very own eyes!”
Phone Calls From Jail
The uproar over Breonna Taylor has cooled off a bit. Those who feel the need will continue to stir. Whatever inconvenient facts come along will be ignored. Cognitive dissonance, and narcotizing dysfunction, are real. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Louisville Metro Police Department compiled a 39 page report that was leaked to the press. Much of the report is transcripts of phone calls made from jail. The people in these calls do not look good. They argue, say the n-word, and generally act like a bunch of jerks. Jamarcus Cordell Glover, the primary person we are looking at today, was a known crack/fentynyl dealer. After a while, the reader is left with a feeling of disgust for the people in these calls.
JCG was a former lover of Breonna Taylor. There were indications of a continuing business relationship. Was Breonna Taylor dealing drugs? It is tough to say. Were her hands clean? Almost certainly not. Associating with drug dealers is not a reason to be killed. However, it does made this sad occurrence much more likely.
“PBI detectives … 03/13/2020 – executed simultaneous search warrants at 2424 Elliott Avenue, 2425 Elliott Avenue, 2426 Elliott Avenue, and 3003 Springfield Drive #4 (see attached). During a search of 2424 Elliott Avenue, PBI detectives were able to recover a large amount of suspected crack cocaine and suspected Fentanyl pills … Jamarcus Glover, Demarius Bowman, Rayshawn Lee, and Alicia Jones were located at 2424 Elliott Avenue at the time the search warrants were executed. … When the search warrant was executed at 3003 Springfield Drive #4, which Breonna Taylor was listed on, an officer involved shooting (OIS) occurred and as a result Breonna Taylor was killed. Present inside the apartment at the time the search warrant was executed was Breonna Taylor and Kenneth Walker.” (Demarius Bowman is the brother of Fernandez Bowman, whose body was found in a car rented by Breonna Taylor on December 3, 2016)
JCG made a series of calls from jail on March 13. It should be noted that we don’t know if he is telling the truth in these calls. There was a recorded message at the start of these calls: “This is a prepaid collect call from an inmate at Louisville metropolitan corrections department. This is not a protected or privileged phone call. This call is subject to recording and monitoring. To accept charges press one to refuse char … Thank you for using securus. You may start the conversation now.” What follows are selected quotes from these calls.
08:52 J Glover calls Kiera Bradley, the mother of JCG’s child.
KB – “Chop that girl got killed over you.”
09:27 JCG calls KB
JCG – “I’m hurt my name gettin called about Bre’s death … This ***** (Kenneth Walker) in jail … this ***** got Bre dead … At the end of the day it was not my fault. It’s this *****’s fault that’s in here. The reason why it happened, the ***** is sittin right here.”
KB – “Okay did y’all talk or is he still on some defensive shit?”
JCG – “He said they were beating on the door.”
11:30 JCG calls KB, tells her to put Domo (Dominique Crenshaw) on the line.
JCG – “What up Domo (Dominique Crenshaw) … Kenneth just got her killed *****. Sitting in this jail like it’s all good, like he’s straight, like it ain’t his fault.”
DC – “So he the one shooting the gun?”
JMG – “Yeah he shoots at the police, they shoot back, Bre in the hallway and she gets killed.”
12:27 JCG calls KB
KB – “Everybody’s calling because their saying your baby momma got killed. … Her momma (Breonna Taylor’s mother) and the no limit crew… they basically like the ***** that she was fucking with got her all caught up … the no limit they don’t play.”
JCG – “Man I don’t care.”
KB – “I know you don’t care, you don’t care about shit.”
12:58 JCG calls unknown female
JCG – “He (Kenneth Walker) said motherfuckers knocked on the door but he didn’t know who it was. They asked who it is but don’t nobody say nothin … He said they kicked that door and he “bocked” on them. He said they started shooting back and Bre was in the hallway and she caught bullets … Scott (Scott Barton – J. Glover’s attorney) know Bre, he know her, he been dealing with me and Bre the whole time I’ve been going through this shit.”
13:07 JCG calls KB
They argue over him not being honest and him, having money at other people’s house.
JCG – “Why are you doing this?”
KB – “Cuz my feelings are hurt.”
JCG – “Why cuz the bread (money) was at her house?… This is what you got to understand, don’t take it wrong but Bre been handling all my money, she been handling my money… She been handling shit for me and cuz, it ain’t just me.”…
KB – “Motherfuckers are posting videos of you and all of that.”
JCG – “Who posts videos of me?”
KB – “This bitch (Breonna Taylor) where she’s been with you, since you ain’t been over at my house… the same day you post a picture I guess she post a video, you knew it because she said what’s up she was in the bed with you, you kissing all over her. This shit is embarrassing.”
16:27 JCG calls KB
KB – “It ain’t even really about Bre because I already know… Motherfuckers done already gave me the blueprint … I know she was fuckin with you…You bounce back and forth between these bitches and I’m not doing none of that, it’s messy… That could have been me bro…”
JCG – “Could have been you because you around a *****?”
KB – “No because I’m around you … You bringin mess on yourself … You think a motherfucker trying to criticize you … You bring shit on yourself like the messiness, its how you move, how you’re so flamboyant, how you putting shit out … I don’t even know what I got myself into … You want me to text your side bitch Rica (Robrica Johnson)? She got gas to get up there to you? … You act like a motherfucker can’t be mad, I got your daughter and you tell me you got money somewhere else, when you’re out here risking your life and your freedom every motherfucking day, like I can call Bre and ask Bre to do anything for my daughter.”
17:20 JCG calls Adrian Walker
AW – “I thought you said they found some money over there?”
JCG – “It was there, it was there, it was there… They didn’t do nothing though that’s the problem … Kenneth said ain’t none of that go on.”
AW – “So they didn’t take none of the money?”
JCG – “Kenneth said that none of that go on. He said Homicide came straight on the scene and they went to packaging Bre and they left.”
AW – “He said they didn’t announce themselves or something?”
JCG – “He sayin they wasn’t, he’s sayin they were just beating so hard.”
AW – “She was in the hallway?”
JCG – “In the hallway *****. That’s just so sad bruh. … “She (Breonna Taylor) gonna turn her back on me cause she love that ***** … that ***** did this shit. At the end of the day if I would have been at that house, Bre would be alive bruh … I don’t shoot at no police.”
17:58 JCG calls KB
KB – “…You had Bre’s car on Valentine’s Day, we weren’t together …
You don’t care about nothing but the money.”
21:27 JCG calls KB
JCG – “How you gonna bond that man out of jail? This shit happened because of this ***** (Kenneth Walker)… he fired shots at the police.”
KB starts arguing with J. Glover over what if the police would have run in her house last night, and he wasn’t going to be there, and she has their daughter…
JCG – “Bre, Bre.”
KB – “I’m Kiera, I’m Kiera.”
Podcasts
@chamblee54 “Dating Kinds Sucks is now on my list of podcasts. I might listen to an episode some day. Between enthusiastically following a dozen podcasts, ten hours a week of joe rogan, listening to music, and the need for recreational silence, there is not a lot of time left.”
Someone asked PG for a list of podcasts. PG quickly found a dozen shows, and moved the file into a folder. The next day, he thought of a dozen more shows to add to the list. PG moved a copy of the list onto his desktop. Shows-that-must-be-went to the top of the list making a handy reference. There are now over a hundred podcasts on the list. Many are not active, and many more are terrible. (All of them ask for donations.) One day, there would have to be a podcast post.
Neo-luddite PG is very happy not to be tethered to a smart phone. PG does his work on a desk top. “Podcast apps” are a mystery to him. If you want to listen to any of these shows, you are smart enough to figure it out. If a podcast app works for you, then you should use one.
You should find a site where you download the mp3. Sometimes, it is the main site for the show. Other times, you have to look. You can type the name of the show into google, and put the letters rss after it. This will usually give you a site where you get the mp3. Right click on the appropriate tab, and click “save file as.” On some shows, you click directly on the download tab, and the file goes into your machine. You sometimes have to play with things to get them to work.
This feature is being written on Tuesday morning. Several of the top shows drop new episodes on Tuesday. We will start with the Tuesday morning shows.
RISK! occupies a special place in the podcast pantheon. A typical episode has three stories, of about twenty minutes each. The stories go from terrific to terrible. One advantage of downloading is the ease of stopping a non-productive story, and skipping ahead to the next segment. RISK! does have an unfortunate tendency towards obnoxious wokeness.
99% Invisible is a show about design, which is supposed to be 99% invisible. Host Roman Mars looks at a wide range of topics, and is seldom boring. A typical story is about twenty minutes long, or about the time of a good ride on the stationary bike.
99% p.i. is a founding member of Radiotopia, a podcast collective. They link to each others shows, and ask for donations. Radiotopia is connected to PRX, which recently had a tacky racism scandal.
The Journal is “… A podcast about money, business and power. … is a co-production from Gimlet Media and The Wall Street Journal.” The Journal is not affected by the notorious WSJ paywall. The Journal appears several times a week, and can be quite enjoyable. Some of the early reporting here on Covid-19 was remarkable. Episodes are usually under twenty minutes.
The Writer’s Voice: New Fiction from The New Yorker is a delight. The author of the print edition story reads it here. Sometimes it is boring, but often is great. The New Yorker: Fiction is the first-of-the-month companion. Here, an author reads a selected story from the archive. There is a discussion of the story with editor Deborah Treisman, that you might want to skip.
Listening to a story uses a different part of the mind than reading text, and can lead to a different perception. The viral sensation of “Cat Person” comes to mind. The #metoo themed tale was the national fascination in December, 2017. PG had listened to author Kristen Roupenian reading the story before the scandal erupted, and did not think the story was a big deal.
Disgraceland appears every other Tuesday. DGL looks at the less pleasant side of famous musicians. Some of these people are real assholes, even if they did make great music. Cocaine and Rhinestones is similar, with a focus on country music. A spin-off of DGL is The 27 Club. Each season looks at the adventures of a famous musician, who died before the twenty eighth birthday.
Levar Burton Reads drops new stories on Tuesday, when it is in season. “Kunta Kinte” reads a story that he loves. Old Gods of Appalachia is another fiction show on podbay. PG discovered OGOA on a boring sunday afternoon recently. It tells horror stories rising from the hollows of East Tennessee. There are many more storyteller podcasts.
This feature is getting into TLDR territory. There is a possibility of more podcast posts in the future. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Part two and part three are now available.
Tupperware
It is another morning. Get up, do a few gentle exercises, stumble into the kitchen, make the first part of breakfast, go back to my room. Turn the computer on, take out my medications. Since two of the meds are out, I walk across the room. There is a shelf with pills waiting to be taken. It turns out I have, for some reason, a double supply of my blood pressure meds. It is the time of year when I need to see the doctor. She will think of something to fuss at me about, and spoil my day. Since I have a six month supply of things, I can put this unpleasant duty for a while.
Sunday does not, under any circumstances, include going to church. It does include taking a reading on the water meter. I have had my issues with the county water department. It pays to take a weekly meter reading. This week was within reasonable usage, so we move on.
Twitter and facebook, the midget mannequins of the apocalypse, are full of cheerful commentary about our antichrist POTUS. I am just sitting back, taking it all in. It does seem to give Mr. Biden an advantage in the upcoming election. Whatever g-d chooses to do with the orange haired idiot is fine with me. I would, however, prefer not to let VPOTUS have a chance at playing world leader.
I took the transcripts of the debate, and broke it down into ten beat lines. The next step is to retrofit the lines into couplets, and create poems. Breaking down the transcript was triggering. POTUS interrupted, lied, shouted down, and generally acted like a total asshole. It brought back unpleasant memories of jousting with verbally incontinent bullies. After this wrestling match with a hog, the entire country was dirty. The pig enjoyed himself.
People obsessed with Donnie’s racial attitudes are missing the point. The president is a crook, a liar, and a fuckup. Maybe he is a racist, maybe not. Unfortunately, many people thing a man’s racial attitudes are a good reason to hate him. Me, when I hear someone call president Trump a racist, I realize that this same person probably calls me a racist. I hate feeling solidarity with Donald Trump, but these social justice wankers are forcing me to.
Breakfast began with mandarin oranges, and canned cherries, left over from yesterday. Every other day, I open a can of each, pour the juice in my tea, and put half the can in a bowl. The other half goes in a jar, waiting for the next day. This was a jar morning.
Two Tupperware containers are waiting for me. Yesterday, I cut up potatoes, washed some turnip greens, and put them in the steamer. I remembered to cut down the heat, after it started to boil. After a half hour, I have a delicious breakfast for two days.
The Tupperware #250 Millionaire Line is a marvel of Eisenhower era plastics. This container is clear plastic, 3.5″ tall and 4″ round. The plastic is .16″ thick, and utterly indestructible. This product was bought at a Tupperware party.
“After World War II, (Earl Silas) Tupper received a block of polyethylene from DuPont, which was hoping plastics manufacturers would invent peacetime uses for the new material the company had developed during the war. Tupper tinkered with his molding machines for months. DuPont had added fillers to the polyethylene to firm it up and it was difficult to mold. Tupper asked DuPont for some pure polyethylene pellets instead. They were skeptical, but after much trial and error, Tupper produced the first of his Tupperware bowls.”
“Tupper started marketing his products as giveaways with cigarettes. Eventually they made it into department stores. He even opened a showroom on Fifth Avenue in New York. His Tupperware “wonderbowl” — with its patented burping seal — won design prizes. He advertised widely. But he wasn’t doing very well financially.”
“The person who transformed Tupperware into a marketing empire was Brownie Wise — a single mother with no formal business training. She had started selling huge quantities of Tupperware at home parties, and when Earl Tupper noticed the sales figures in 1951, he invited her to visit Massachusetts. The result: he decided to sell Tupperware exclusively through home parties and to make Wise his company’s vice president and head of all sales.”
It worked well, until it didn’t. Mr, Tupper fired Ms. Wise, and sold the company. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
2019 Homicide Statistics
Crime in the U.S. 2019 has been issued. It is more statistics about crime than you could consume in a lifetime. This blog published reports on these numbers for 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Expanded Homicide Data Table 1 is the source of homicide statistics. These numbers are broken down by race, gender, ethnicity, and other factors. (Hispanic or latino, known here as hispanic, is considered an ethnicity, rather than a race. Hispanic people are included in racial breakdowns according to their race.) In 2019, there were 13,927 homicide victims. The gender breakdown is 10,908 male (78%), 2991 female (21%), and 28 unknown (.2%).
Quick facts, from the U.S. Census Bureau, is the source of population numbers. On July 1, 2019, there were 328,239,523 people in the United States. White people were 76.3% (252,087,953), and black people were 13.4% (43,984,096). Hispanic people were 18.5% (60,724,311).
2019 homicide victims break down into white 5,787, black 7,484, other race 434, and unknown race 422. Hispanics are counted separately, and had 2,193 victims. If you divide the number of homicide victims by the population, you get the number of homicide victims per million (vpm). The overall population lost 42.4 vpm. For white people, there were 22.9 vpm. For black people, there were 170.1 vpm. For hispanic people, there were 36.5 vpm.
50.8% of the population is female, according to the census bureau. We will use this 50.8/49.2 breakdown in this next section, even though there are indications that the percent of females is higher for black people. The gender breakdown overall is 10,908 male (78%), 2991 female (21%), and 28 unknown (.2%). The male/female ratio for homicides is, for white people, male 4,026 (69%), and female 1,759 (30%). For black people, it is male 6,446 (86%), and female 1,035 (14 %). For hispanics, it is male 1,768 (80%), and female 425 (19%).
On a per capita basis, overall, males had 67.7 vpm, with females losing 18.0 vpm. White males had 32.4 vpm, with white females losing 13.7 vpm. Black males had 306.9 vpm, with black females losing 47.0 vpm. Hispanic males had 60.9 vpm, with hispanic females losing 14.1 vpm.
The numbers are down from 2018. 2018 had 14,123 homicide victims (w 6,088, b 7,407, h 2,173). 2019 had 13,927 homicide victims (w 5,787, b 7,484, h 2,193). This is with an overall population increase of 1,072,089. Most of the other numbers were lower in 2019.
The Washington Post reports 999 people shot dead by police in 2019. The breakdown: White 404, Black 250, Hispanic 163. (Using these numbers for comparison may be tricky. The FBI groups Hispanics into White/Black/Other as appropriate, while WAPO considers Hispanics to be a separate racial category.) If you divide the WAPO number by the total number of victims, you get a killed-by-police percentage. Overall, this is 999/13,927 = 7.1%. For White people, this is 404/5787 = 6.9%. For Black people, this is 250/7484 = 3.3%. For Hispanics, this is 163/2193 = 7.4%.
Learning Curve
I am still trying to figure out the new WordPress thing. The tried and true method is to write text, add pictures, and see what happens.
A key step is adding links. For years, I have made the links in my template. I have the code, with zzz for the url and xxx for the text that will appear in the post. It is a handy system, that has served me well over the years. Will this code work in the new editor?
I was looking through my old posts, with the intention of finding old text to recirculate. I soon got tired of that, and decided to write something fresh. One of the old posts was titled Page 43. It is a writing prompt. Take a book, go to page 43, and write about the first sentence. The book for today’s exercise is Skinny Legs and All, by Tom Robbins.
“Hand in hand, she short, he tall, she bouncy, he lame, they walked along the stream.” Boomer Petway and his bride, Ellen Cherry Charles Petway, were walking towards a cave. They were going to have a picnic lunch, after eating dessert first. They brought with them a can of beans, and a silver dessert spoon. The spoon was probably not involved in the pre-meal festivities. Once they commence to celebrating their young marriage, Ellen Cherry feels the need to cry out Jezebel.
“Hand’ in hand’, she short’, he tall’, she bounc,’-y, he’ lame, they’ walked a’long the’ stream.” The sentence has an iambic beat. The first ten beats would make a great line for a poem. Not only does it score high on the meter meter, but it ends in EE. This vowel sound is very common at the end of words. Rhyme zone has 1518 results the EE sound.
Getting back to the new editor, this is causing brain damage. If you go to the menu, and select “All Posts,” you will see a list of the most recent posts. Under each post, you can choose “Edit,” which is pretty obvious. Next to that is “Classic Editor.” Apparently, I can start the post in the new window, close it, and finish it using the classic editor. However, WordPress is making noise about dumping the classic editor altogether, so it would be better to learn the new system. It is a bit of a challenge.
The first step is to add a link, to see if that works. The old code for links works here. The only difference between the old code, and the new, is about twenty characters added onto the new code. Eventually, I can update the template, but for now the old code can be recycled. That can be a real problem when repeating an old post.
The next step is to add pictures. This is absolutely essential to the look of chamblee54. If you google the question, you will get some conflicting answers. Finally, I clicked on the blue plus sign, which lets you add a block. This is, after all, called the block editor. There appear to be some toys to play with, after I get used to this thing.
Before I reinvent chamblee54, I need to get this learning curve post up. If you go into the “Media” blocks, you will see something called “Stacked.” This will enable you to download pictures. The code looks a bit different. It is tougher to work with.
It was looking good for a while. Maybe I should have just inserted the text, and gone on. Instead, I kept pushing buttons, and screwed something up. The pictures are now set off to the right of the border by about 24 pixels, and rub over the lists of details beside the picture space. I can’t tell if it was like that all along, or if I put it there by accident. I am going to start another post, and see if it works better this time. I may wind up going with the classic editor anyway.
One more try with the pictures was the correct move. I was pushing this and that button, and trumped everything up. The text works well, give or take a tweak or two. This post is going to go on the internet, and maybe somebody will read it.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These pictures that were edited in 2016. Chamblee54 has written about Skinny Legs and All before. (one two three)
New Regime
The day started out like many others. Get up, do human being stuff, and settle in for the day. One thing I try to do is put something up on the blog every day. Often, it is reruns of things I have previously posted. Today is no different.
It is pretty basic. You find an old post. Right click on the edit tab, and open it in a new window. Then you open a window for a new post. This is where it got complicated today.
For months, WordPress has been warning me that a new editor was coming. Based on previous experience with new editors, I stuck to the classic editor. Today, the classic editor is not available.
Anybody that works with machines is familiar with the new edition experience. You have to learn all over again. Some things will be easier. Some things will be impossible. Features that you took for granted are no longer there. You don’t know what you have until it is gone.
The only thing to do is write a post, and try to figure out the new editor. This is done without human assistance. You can scroll through a forum, or try to decipher some instructions. Mostly, it is open menus, and look. The first step is to write text, and mark it up.
The next step is finding pictures. Photographs, and graphic poems, are an essential part of chamblee54. I honestly don’t know how I am going to add photographs to this.
I try to add photographs. You have to insert one picture at a time. The instructions are useless. Finally, I hit publish by mistake. I go to a menu, and look up the post to edit. It gives me the option of editing in the classic editor. I take this option. This is enough brain damage for one day.
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Measuring Racism
PG hears the word “racist” tossed casually so much, he suspects it has lost it’s meaning. Dictionary definitions are of little use. The meaning of the word depends on who is saying it.
The modest suggestion here is for a seven point scale to measure racism. Zero would be totally colorblind, and six would be metaphysical hate. For the sake of simplicity, this scale, in the beginning, will only apply to white-black relations in the United States.
The model for this is the Kinsey scale. In his books on human sexuality, Dr. Kinsey described a seven point scale. Zero was totally heterosexual, and six was totally homosexual.
PG does not have a clue how to write a test for this scale, or how to score this test. White people see racism differently than black people. White people are affected by racism in different ways than black people. Different cultures view racism in different ways.
How would PG score on this scale? He has black friends and black enemies. Certain parts of black culture are enjoyable, and certain parts make him want to turn the radio off.
PG does not like people that do not like PG. When it is us against them, you need to remember which one you are. How does this register on this racism scale? It depends on who does the judging.
This is a repost. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. These images are from “… a collection of images of downtown Atlanta streets that were taken before the viaduct construction of 1927 – 1929. Later, some of the covered streets became part of Underground Atlanta.” The renovation at Underground never stops.
Subtle Ways
Facebook has a feature called “watch.” It is a symbol at the top of the page, which is sometimes advertised with a red marker. If you click on the symbol, you are encouraged to watch videos.
The Subtle Way to F**k with Racists – James Davis, with the uncensored f word, was the top video saturday. PG considers the r word to be hate speech, and complained about the video. The evil empire soon replied that the video did not qualify as unsuitable.
The Subtle Way … is a comedy routine. It starts off with some commentary on riots. It is not until 2:26 that we get to the “Subtle Way.” Since copyright protection is real, this will be paraphrased.
After the rioters are finished looting, the comedian goes to the vehicles of “racist people.” He peels the sticker off the license plate. He is not going to (expletive) property, he is going to (expletive) you. You are going to go to the DMV, because Black Lives Matter. After you get back from the DMV, your vehicle gets keyed. The audience laughs repeatedly. They are not worried about their vehicles.
Having “your shit” keyed is not subtle. This is probably someone the performer has never met. The comedian does not say how he knows they are racist. Even if this is a “racist people,” that does not justify malicious damage to property. This is what Facebook is encouraging.
The next “Subtle Way” involves breaking and entering. The comedian is going to break into the house of the policeman. They will break in, take “they best wine,” and put it in the freezer. When the officers wife goes to get the wine, there will be an unpleasant surprise. Meanwhile, the comedian is going to hide in the bushes outside, and yell “N***a.” Facebook, and Comedy Central Stand-Up, think this is a good idea. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
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