Broken Legs And Broken Promises
This content was published April 21, 2008. … It is monday after work, and slack rules. What energy I had is long gone. I started a nifty post about Truman Capote at lunch, but don’t feel like finishing it. Not to worry, Renegade Evolution has the answer. She displayed something called the blog&website Cuss-o-meter. Ren copped a 34.5% rating, which is not surprising for a sex worker. …
The first question to arise is, what do they call cussing? The seven words of Carlin? Anything referring to excretion, reproduction, or the eternal destination of your soul? I am not terribly offended by most profanity. I try not to use it, because it takes attention away from your overall message. Profanity is a social issue rather than a moral one. Certain words are not right or wrong, but when you use one inappropriately you betray a lack of respect for the listeners. There are words that offend me … like Jesus … that many see as their moral duty to say as often as possible. And this eagerness to profane a sacred name is a violation of the third commandment. (That is, the eagerness of Christians to scream his name as often and loudly as possible). … It is a matter of perception. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but ugly uses all five senses.
This content was published April 16, 2008. … I don’t know which Neil is uglier, Boortz or Young. Its a good thing Neil Diamond (The Jewish Elvis) is handsome. … There have always been mixed feelings about Neil Young. In 1972, after “Goldrush” and CSNY, his new album was greatly anticipated. I got “Harvest” the first chance I got, and thought that it sucked. A few more albums came out, some better than others. It did not help that some hipsters thought that Mr. Young walked on water.
Then one night in 1978, I went by a house, and was told to drive to the radio station immediately. Mr. Young had a show at the Omni that night, it was far from sold out, and there was a man with a shoebox of tickets in the radio station parking lot. Never mind that the seats were in Alabama, I was in the same room as Neil Young. … And he was great. There were huge comic book speakers, and these guys in star wars costumes swarming over the stage to adjust the equipment. Neil played VERY LOUD. Sometimes having seats in Alabama is a good thing. … There is something artificial about a studio arteest who cannot pull the weight onstage. Donna Summer comes to mind (Easter Sunday 1978). OTOH, a performer who pulls it off in front of an audience is real. That night at the Omni, Neil Young justified a lifetime of pretentious records.
This content was published April 14, 2008. … “You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, … the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothings replaced them … And they fell through the Clinton Administration, and the Bush Administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. … And it’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”
Unless you live under a rock/Iraq, or have right wing ideas on permanent brain rot, you have heard about that comment from BHO. Quite possibly, you have heard more than you appreciate … unless you are looking for a reason not to like BHO, in which case you haven’t heard enough. If you are in the first category, just scroll through the text and enjoy the pictures. If you are in the second group, you might not like what I am going to say. You can still look at the pictures.
1- This was a secretly recorded speech made at a fundraiser. The fatcat party was in San Francisco, a factoid that delights the hate-O crowd. What sort of person donates to a campaign (possibly using another person’s money), so he can go to a private party and make a secret recording? And then take the “sample” and release it to the tittering internet.
2- My first reaction when I read this was that the smalltown folk have felt that way for a long long time. They loved guns and Jesus back when the factories and steelmills were wide open. 3- It is not just small town Pennsylvania that is “bitter”. (Folks seem to have a special problem with the word bitter. One “consultant” was quoted as saying it would have been better if BHO had said frustrated.) What about the guys that did a high five behind Jeremiah Wright when he screamed “God Damn America”? If anyone has a right to be bitter, it is the folks on the south side of Chicago, or any ghetto in America. And yes, they do cling to Jesus and Guns, as well as other nasty things.
4- It is not just America that is bitter and turning to religion. Palestine and Iraq are in the same boat. They feel like forces are working against them, and they might be right. People are turning to religion and violence as an answer to their anguish. They are being led down that wretched path by cynical clerics who exploit their unhappiness, and offer a solution through God. These clerics seldom strap on a suicide vest, just like Jeremiah Wright does not live in the projects.
5- This is not going to hurt BHO that much. The people who are upset are not going to support him anyway. A lot of people see the truth in what he says, and just might appreciate the fact that he was unslick enough to say something with a rough edge. He just might have known that Judas-with-a-taperecorder was in the house. 6- Batter Better Bitter Botter Butter. The only vowel that doesn’t work in that progression is O.
Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library Guy Dodd Hayes took the social media picture in April 27, 1941. “Convicts with broken legs in casts in bunk-beds at Dallas, Georgia prison.” … “Broken Legs and Broken Promises. These three youths who say they broke their legs to escape “Beatings and hardships” at the Dallas “Hell Hole Prison,” admit that conditions have improved since Warden Q.E. Worthington took charge in February, but charge the warden broke his own promise of no brutality by whipping Morris Brown “on general principles.” Left to right they are Buster Masters, 18, of Atlanta; Percy Mitchell, 21, of Macon, and Ed Pressley, 18, of Troupe County. Other prisoners are high in their praise of the warden for allowing radios, mail and sale of luxuries within the camp for the first time.” … “These three Georgia lads hamstrung themselves by cutting the tendons of their own legs to avoid being sent out on convict road gangs.”
©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Siddhartha Gautama
This content was published April 21, 2023. … 43 minutes into “The Buddha”, Gautama Siddhartha (suh·DAAR·tuh GAU·tuh·muh) turned away from asceticism. He accepted a bowl of rice pudding from a lady, and was a step farther on the path to enlightenment.
Buddhism has always seemed “too asian” for an occidental to follow. There are some things, confirmed by this video, that I find appealing. The stories of Buddha are understood to be legends, with no one (that we know of) claiming them to be literal history. This is not like the book worship of Christians. Stories about Jesus are said to be literal truth. The ideas that Buddha taught are not changed by “mistakes” in telling his life story.
There is a story about Buddha seeing his ascetic buddies, after he ate the bowl of rice pudding. He got the ascetics to listen to him, until he won them over. From what I have seen of humans, especially spiritually charged ones, I find it tough to imagine these people listening that long. The average Jesus worshiper cannot be quiet long enough for you to finish a single sentence.
Christianity is obsessed with life after death. The Buddha of this show takes a different approach: “There are stories of people coming to the Buddha, and saying, “I am leaving your teaching because you have not told me about whether there is a life after death, or whether there is another world. And the Buddha says, ‘Did I ever say that I would give you the answers to these things?’ ‘No, Lord, you didn’t.’ ‘Why do you think that I ever said that I would give you the answer to these things? Because these are not the things that you need to know. The thing that you need to know is how to deal with suffering, because at this very moment, what made you ask that question was suffering.”
The focus is on the life of Buddha, not his death. The focus is on this life, not on life after death. Buddha lived to an old age, teaching up until his departure. Maybe if Jesus had been better at human relationships, he would not have been executed.
Maybe I am so scarred by/scared of Jesus that I cannot benefit from any other source of wisdom. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The social media picture: “Private William Anthony Holland of Co. K, 10th Virginia Cavalry Regiment.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Dementia Solution
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This is the first monday morning reader without David Allan Coe. Or, as the AI clickbait reader calls him, CO ee · I was editing this story, when I decided to verify the legend of Elvis shooting a TV set because Robert Goulet was performing. A half hour later, I knew a lot more about the incident, and saw a picture of another TV set Elvis fired on · Here are three stories from 2008 that deserve a second chance. Pictures are from the Library of Congress, and are better than the text · This content was published May 18, 2025 · This content was originally published May 15, 2019 · Jack Delano took the social media picture in May 1940. “Interior of general store at Stem, Granville County, North Carolina, with high school boys dressed up because it’s Election Day.” · This content was originally published May 7, 2024 · Today is the National Day of Prayer. What would Jesus say about this? “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Matthew 6:7 · Mark Twain wrote a story about the national mood during the Phillipines War. He said it would not be published in his lifetime. Indeed, it did not see print until 1923. “None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth” · Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. – Address on the First Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress at the White House (13 March 1962) · I heard something for the first time yesterday. “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” Matthew 6:7 · I have been hearing about the Bible all my life. Maybe there is a reason why the Christian motormouths don’t mention that verse. · Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. · He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. · The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. The English language will survive · If the Hasbarists had only quoted the real numbers, they would be believed a lot more. Those 4k were pushed into action by Mossad. The spell check suggestion for Hasbarists is Baristas · For a long time, I posted a tribute to my mother on the second Sunday of May. This year, I am going to post something that she would have enjoyed reading · About these “art movies” you used to enjoy … were they gay or straight? · beautiful and shocking · if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in what organ do we register shock? The gut is the first answer, and perhaps the correct one. However, “the gut” is a collection of behind the scenes actors who work together to insure a smoothly working anatomy. It is not obvious like the eye, just like beauty is not alway apparent in the eye. Shock often comes through the eye, like every time i click on an iranian lego video about the orange haired idiot. That may be the only beautiful thing to come out of bibi’s dream war. maybe this is a call for rhyming. beautiful is a difficult word to rhyme, unlike blocking mocking glocking focking which are often not real words but whose meaning is fairly obvious. rhymezone suggests juvenile and cubicle, which will have to do since we are not writing a poem tonight. i found the hand raise symbol right away. that is shocking · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress John Vachon took the social media picture in April 1942. “Ravalli County, Montana. Castrating young lambs” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Lewis Grizzard
This content was originally posted April 23, 2012. … If you lived in Atlanta between 1980 and 1994, you heard about Lewis Grizzard. Some people loved him. Deacon Lunchbox did not. Lewis told good old boy stories about growing up in rural Georgia. Many of them were enjoyable. Lewis also made social and political commentaries, which upset a few people.
I have mixed feelings about Lewis. The stories about Kathy Sue Loudermilk, and Catfish, could make your day. His opinions about gays, feminists, and anything non redneck, could get on your nerves. The column for the fishwrapper upset me at least twice a week.
In 1982, Lewis (a first-name-only celebrity) wrote a column about John Lennon. Lewis did not understand why Mr. Ono was such a big deal. I cut the column out of the fishwrapper, and put it in a box. Every few years, I would be looking for something, find that column, and get mad all over again.
The New Georgia Encyclopedia has a page about Lewis, which expresses some of these contradictions. “If Grizzard’s humor revealed the ambivalence amid affluence of the Sunbelt South, it reflected its conservative and increasingly angry politics as well. He was fond of reminding fault-finding Yankee immigrants that “Delta is ready when you are,” and, tired of assaults on the Confederate flag, he suggested sarcastically that white southerners should destroy every relic and reminder of the Civil War (1861-65), swear off molasses and grits, drop all references to the South, and begin instead to refer to their region as the “Lower East.” Grizzard also wore his homophobia and hatred for feminists on his sleeve, and one of the last of his books summed up his reaction to contemporary trends in its title, Haven’t Understood Anything since 1962 and Other Nekkid Truths.
In the end, which came in 1994, when he was only forty-seven, the lonely, insecure, oft-divorced, hard-drinking Grizzard proved to be the archetypal comic who could make everyone laugh but himself. He chronicled this decline and his various heart surgeries in I Took a Lickin’ and Kept on Tickin’, and Now I Believe in Miracles, published just before his final, fatal heart failure.”
As you may have discerned, Lewis McDonald Grizzard Jr. met his maker on March 20, 1994. He was 47. There was a valve in his heart that wasn’t right. The good news is that he stayed out of the army. At the time, Vietnam was the destination for most enlistees. The bad news is that his heart problems got worse and worse, until it finally killed him.
Sixteen years later, I found a website, Wired For Books. It is a collection of author interviews by Don Swaim, who ran many of them on a CBS radio show called Book
Beat. There are two interviews with Lewis. 1986 1987. One was done to promote My Daddy Was a Pistol and I’m a Son of A Gun. This was the story of Lewis Grizzard Senior, who was another mixed bag.
If you listen to those interviews, you might change your mind about Lewis. The one-liners and country boy stories are still there. Daddy Grizzard was a soldier, who went to war in Europe and Korea. The second one did something to him, he took to drinking, and was never quite right the rest of his life. His son adored him anyway. When you put yourself in those loafers for a while, you began to taste the ingredients, in that stew we called Lewis Grizzard.
I still remember the anger that those columns caused … I have my own story, and know when my toes are stepped on. The thing is, after listening to this show, I have an idea of why Lewis Grizzard wrote the things that he did. Maybe Lewis and I aren’t all that different after all. Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken October 31, 1956. “Wrecked police automobile” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Serve As A Bad Example
This content was published May 31, 2010. … He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
Joseph Romm, Washington
· She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again. — Rich Murphy, Fairfax Station
· The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.
Russell Beland, Springfield
· McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup.
Paul Sabourin, Silver Spring
· From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and “Jeopardy” comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30.
Roy Ashley, Washington
· Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze. — Chuck Smith, Woodbridge
· Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center. — Russell Beland, Springfield
· Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung by mistake — Ken Krattenmaker, Landover Hills
· Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. — Unknown
· He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. — Jack Bross, Chevy Chase
· The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
Gary F. Hevel, Silver Spring
· Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like”Second Tall Man.” — Russell Beland, Springfield
· Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. — Jennifer Hart, Arlington
· The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on a Dr Pepper can.
Wayne Goode, Madison, Ala.
· They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth. — Paul Kocak, Syracuse, N.Y.
· John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
Russell Beland, Springfield
· The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. — Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria
· His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free. — Chuck Smith, Woodbridge
· The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
These specimens were published in 2007 by Soylent Green – ItsPeopleDammit(tm). Before that, it was an item at The Humor Library, Worst Analogies Ever Written in a High School Essay Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Jack Delano took the social media picture in March 1941. “Woman who had been moved out of the Santee-Cooper basin to Orangeburg Farms, a FSA (Farm Security Administration) project in Orangeburg County, South Carolina”
©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
The War Prayer
This content was posted October 25, 2009. … One hundred and twenty five years ago, the United States was involved in a war that did not want to end. This conflict was in the Philippines. Although there had been an official end to the war, guerrillas continued to fight the Americans. The war was a nasty affair, with many atrocities.
The War against the Philippine people was a souvenir of the Spanish American War. There had been a rebellion against Spanish rule in the islands. After the American forces routed the Spanish, the rebellion shifted to the American occupiers. It was a war stumbled into, and difficult to end.
Mark Twain was horrified. He wrote a story, The War Prayer. As Lew Rockwell tells the tale: “Twain wrote “The War Prayer” during the US war on the Philippines. It was submitted for publication, but on March 22, 1905, Harper’s Bazaar rejected it as “not quite suited to a woman’s magazine.” Eight days later, Twain wrote to his friend Dan Beard, to whom he had read the story, “I don’t think the prayer will be published in my time. None but the dead are permitted to tell the truth.” Because he had an exclusive contract with Harper & Brothers, Mark Twain could not publish “The War Prayer” elsewhere and it remained unpublished until 1923.”
“The story starts in a church. A war has started, and is popular. The troops leave for glory the next day. The preacher has an emotional prayer to send them on their way. Unknown to the minister, there is a visitor. An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there, waiting.
With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, “Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!”
The stranger motioned to the preacher to step aside. The stranger stepped into the pulpit, and claimed to have a message, sent directly from God. The preacher’s message was for support in time of war, and implied that God and the preacher support the same side in this conflict. There is an unspoken part to a prayer like this. This unspoken part was what the stranger was going to put into words.
“O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle – be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.”
This content was posted October 29, 2009. … Mark Twain wrote a lot during the American Genocide in the Philippines. Many of his words could apply today. War has gotten more high tech … for our side … but the bottom line is the same. No matter how fancy the weapons get, the casualties are just as dead. And the investors make money.
The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Updated
Mine eyes have seen the orgy of the launching of the Sword;
He is searching out the hoardings where the stranger’s wealth is stored;
He hath loosed his fateful lightnings, and with woe and death has scored;
His lust is marching on.
Woe and death can turn a profit. Warfare needs a wealthy prophet!
Woe and death through war, don’t stop it! It’s war that makes men rich!
I have seen him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps;
They have builded him an altar in the Eastern dews and damps;
I have read his doomful mission by the dim and flaring lamps—
His night is marching on.
Woe and death can make for profit. Buy a bomb and then go drop it!
War’s a racket, but don’t stop it! It’s war that makes men rich!
I have read his bandit gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
“As ye deal with my pretensions, so with you my wrath shall deal;
Let the faithless son of Freedom crush the patriot with his heel;
Lo, Greed is marching on!”
Our priority is profit. Nobel prizes fail to stop it!
War’s foundation? We’ve co-op’d it! It’s war that makes men rich!
We have legalized the strumpet and are guarding her retreat;
Greed is seeking out commercial souls before his judgement seat;
O, be swift, ye clods, to answer him! be jubilant my feet!
Our god is marching on!
In a sordid slime harmonious Greed was born in yonder ditch,
With a longing in his bosom—and for others’ goods an itch.
As Christ died to make men holy, let men die to make us rich—
Our god is marching on.
Woe and death can turn a profit. Warfare needs a wealthy prophet!
Woe and death through war, don’t stop it! It’s war that makes men rich!
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Arthur S. Siegel took the social media picture in August 1942. “Interlochen, Michigan. National music camp where 300 or more young musicians study symphonic music for eight weeks each summer. Practice indoors on string instruments” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Is Prayer That Great?
This content was posted July 12, 2008. … Prayer is not always a good idea. Somebody has to say it, even though it is the National Day of Prayer.
Many of my objections are in the phrase, Prayer is talking to God, and Meditation is Listening. 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. 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 religious arguments. I have had it shouted at me like a curse.
There is also the matter of prayer as entertainment. While this may be cool to those who are on the program, it can be repulsive to others.
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 observance. Who am I to say it is wrong?
When someone is in a bad way, people want to think they can help. While it does not hurt to pray for someone, it is nothing to boast about.
The 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 devoted to converting others, you should care what people think.
Matthew 6:5-8: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
This content was posted June 14, 2007. … It is time to tell a story, with no moral, and no redeeming social value. In 1980, I was staying at a place called the Sea Haven Hostel, affectionately known as Sleaze Haven. This was in Seattle WA, as far as you can get from Atlanta, and still be in the lower 48. I was working through Manpower, and staying in a semi-private room for $68 a month.
There was a Christian group that met in the basement on Sunday Night. Now, as some of you may know, I am a recovering baptist, who hasn’t been to church since 1971. However, the lure of a free meal was hard to resist, so I went to a few meetings.
One night, after sampling the neighborhood beer supply, I cheerfully joined in the discussion. This was the night when I realized that the Bible is not “the Word of God.” This concept has been very handy in dealing with the ravings of our Jesus-mad culture.
They seemed to like me, though, and welcomed me back. Maybe it was the southern accent.
One Sunday, after the dinner was finished , it was time to have a prayer to begin the meeting. I raised my hand. Now, believers enjoy prayer as entertainment. When they bow their heads, you see them stretching, in anticipation of a good, long, message for God.
My prayer was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of a long winded lecture about Jesus and the magic book, I said what was on my mind. “Lord, thank you for letting us be here today.” What else do you need to say? … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Miles F. Weaver took the social media picture June 15, 1924. “Jewell Pathe’s Bathing Beauty Pirates capture Vitagraph Ships for “Captain Blood”, Balboa Beach, California.” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
The Void
This content was published April 23, 2008 It is a feminist saying that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. Only, she did it backwards and wearing high heels. What they don’t say is that she rehearsed her routines backwards and in high heels. That was dancing to her. If she had to lead in flat shoes she would have been lost. … I saw Ginger Rogers make a personal appearance once. I was working on the mall maintenance crew at Northlake Mall. Ms. Rogers made an appearance to promote Gaymode Pantyhose. Fred Astaire was not there to lead, and she did not speak backwards. Someone asked how old she was, and the inevitable answer was “That is none of your business”.
What a great, honest answer. To me, the high point of this wretched political mudbath was when someone revealed his lack of class by asking Chelsea Clinton about her daddy’s bimbo problem. To which the former (and possibly future) first daughter replied “That is none of your business”. … There is one other saying that is appropriate for all occasions. The story goes that a Persian king asked his men what he could say that would always be so. The wise men thought, drank, fought, consulted sages and prostitutes, and gave the king this message. “These things too shall pass away.”
This content was posted April 24, 2008. … Freedom of speech and freedom of religion are two elements of the Bill of Rights. The combination of the two on roadside message boards was not foreseen by the founding fathers. … There is a little church on Fairground Street in Marietta. Their message these days is “Let Christ fill the void”. The first time I saw that, I was tired. My body chemistry was telling me to be unhappy. My first thought was that I don’t have a void, and how dare those Jesus Worshipers assume that I do. My second thought was that I would rather have a void than the pain Jesus has caused me. … So today, I was on South Cobb Drive when an old Buick drove by. With white shoe polish, the words “Have Jesus John 3:16” were on the back window. Like injecting a dead virus will inoculate you from a disease, that served to alert me to ignore the Jesus messages for a while. When I went by the “Void” church, It didn’t have any effect on me.
When I got home, I turned on the computer and looked at the sites in my “frequent” folder. Mostly Media had a story from South Carolina. Jonesville Church of God has a sign that says “Obama Osama Hmm Are they Brothers?”. … Now, Barrack Sr. got around, so this can not be dismissed. … Senator BHO has had a tough time with religion. First the pesky Muslim rumors, then those repulsive snippets from the man who introduced him to Jesus. … My father was from Eastern North Carolina, just north of South of the Border. When I was a kid we used to go to the farm. This was in the days before interstate highways and air conditioned cars. South Carolina is the biggest, hottest place on earth.
This content was published April 24, 2008. … Neal Boortz was discussing Hatem El-Hady, a man who raises funds for Barack Obama. Mr. El-Hady was involved with an organization called “Kindhearts”. Mr. El-Hady says his group provides assistance to those in need. The U.S. Government says he is a fund raiser for terrorism, and shut down the group. … Mr. El-Hady has a “dedicated page on Barack Obama’s official website”. Mr. El-Hady has raised $60 for the campaign.
A few thoughts are in order: 1 – Mr. Boortz is quick to mock the government when it involves education or the environment. However, when it suits his needs, he believes what they say without question. A regular feature on his show is the “Government Outrage of the Day.” To this reporter, the biggest outrage in recent memory is the deployment of 160k troops eight time zones away. This is destroying our economy and has rendered us more vulnerable to terrorism. 2 – Those who condemn Islamic Terrorism seldom make the distinction between Sunni and Shia. This division is real and important. Al Queda is Sunni, and considers Shia to be more of an enemy than the United States. Could it be that a Shia rival of Kindhearts ratted them out as terrorists? 3 – In the wake of 9-11, the Government went into full terror hunt mode. Is it possible that legitimate charities were swept into this dragnet? 4 – To be totally fair, it is possible that the Government is telling the truth and that Mr. El-Hady is a terrible person. In this case Mr. Obama should return the $60. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress Russell Lee took the featured photograph in February 1940. “Wife of Pomp Hall, Negro tenant farmer, threading sewing machine. She makes practically all of the clothing for her family with the exception of such things as overalls, sweaters, etc. Creek County, Oklahoma.”
©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Elvis Presley And Robert Goulet
This content was published April 30, 2008. … I found a site called Dead or Alive? The concept was to show a list of famous people, whether the lines were flat or wiggling, and the date of the passage. There was one obvious name to check out. DOA supports the notion that Elvis Presley is dead. …
DOA had a list of people who died in the last six months. The Fabulous Moolah, Earl Butz, and Robert Goulet were the surprises. … “It’s part of Elvis Presley lore … the time Elvis filled the screen of his 25-inch RCA TV full of buckshot. Because of Robert Goulet. … Apparently, in the late 50s, when Elvis was in the army and stationed in Germany, his girlfriend at the time, singer Anita Wood, was performing with Robert Goulet and comedian Buddy Hackett. Wood dutifully wrote to Sergeant Presley and, apparently, Goulet added a note to one of her letters, informing Elvis that he was personally “taking care” of Wood (wink, wink). Elvis didn’t appreciate Goulet’s randy sense of humor and carried a grudge the size of Graceland, for years. In 1974, Elvis was relaxing in his swanky penthouse suite at the International Hotel in Vegas when he spotted Goulet on the tube. (The crooner was appearing as a guest co-host on The Mike Douglas Show.) Supposedly, Elvis yelled, “Get that s**t outta my house!” And with that, he aimed and fired.”
Mr. Goulet and Ms. Moolah were part of a phenomenon. These are people who I don’t know if they are dead or alive, until I hear that they have died. Other examples would be Anita Loos and Lowell Thomas. And now, Albert Hofmann, the man who first synthesized LSD. Dr. Hofman was 102, and seemed to have mixed feelings about his discovery. He deplored the excesses, but did not support criminalization. … I had a high school geometry teacher who took part in some of the army LSD experiments. She said a good shot of whiskey would do more for you.
This content was published April 25, 2008. … John McCain has done it again. He condemned an ad by North Carolina Republicans, and gave the ad a lot of publicity in the bargain. What a deal. … The ad shows Jeremiah Wright screaming, and says that Barack Obama enabled his screaming for twenty years. We all knew this. It gets creepy at this point. It seems as though Richard Moore and Beverly Perdue are Democrats running for North Carolina Governor, and they have endorsed Mr. Obama. This makes them “Too Extreme for North Carolina”.
When I heard this ad (on radio, without the visuals) it made me sick, and more than a bit sad. This ad is mean and sleazy. It says more about the party that runs it than it does about the two candidates for governor. This ad is the kind of pointless negative advertising that makes people replulsed by politics. Ads like this make me dread elections. Mr. McCain is correct in denouncing it. … What has been the interesting is the reaction of talk radio. Laura Ingraham was having convulsions…we can’t have fun trashing people, and we won’t support you later because of this. You took our toy away. WAAAAAAA.
Mike Gallagher said there was nothing wrong with the ad, that it was the truth. (2026 Disclosure: The Gallagher and Ingraham quotes are from memory, and do not have a link.) Just because it is the truth doesn’t mean you have to say it, or make it any less distasteful. I get the impression that many conservatives are amused by this sort of guilt by association ad. And they wonder why many people think they are a bunch of jerks. Two wrongs do not make a right. Somebody needs to be the better person, not merely the loudest or most aggresive.
North Carolina Republicans would be doing themselves a favor to take down the ad. It says more about them than it does the Democratic Candidates. It also is giving name recognition to the two Democrats. Someday politicians will learn to be smart and quit offending voters. I am not holding my breath. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Russell Lee took the social media picture in April 1941. “ Mother and children at home. Chicago, Illinois” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Emergency Bilderberg Meeting
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gayforpay · brad silver · samuel myrick · mayretta daze · konstantin kisin
3 biggest lies · relapse · sexlectics · splc · letter
tucker carlson · david allan coe · dick flash · melanoma · h015 0316h
bars · red pill · ponce street names · h142 1126h · h143 1126hh
ramones · mcinerney · h086 0812h · h087 0812hh · red pill
#nationalpoetrymonth 27/30 · #nationalpoetrymonth 28/30 · #nationalpoetrymonth 29/30
#nationalpoetrymonth 30/30 · This is your monday morning reader for day 27 of #nationalpoetrymonth. I got spoiled by copy/pasting poems, and not producing text content. While I was out, WordPress changed, and caused confusion. It’s all part of the game · if you’ve got hiv say aids told her, go say you’re pregnant if you are a girl, if you’re young say younger old say older, hardly even there so give it a whirl · @ComicDaveSmith I am a fan of yours, particularly when it comes to our “chosen” wars. With the exception of @DouglasKMurray , I have not heard any of your debates. Debates are not useful, semantic tricks and logical fallacies to impress the combatants. We should debate less. · flirt like a german unitarian, eliminate like a dog on exlax, belch like you’re the last vegetarian, drink like you don’t know how to relax · an alcoholic is one you don’t like, who drinks as much as you confess, old age cafeteria morphodite, he who seeks work will find a rest · there is a creek across the street. every year ab out this time, i put my creek shoes on, wade in there, and cut back vines . i have been putting it off during the drought because the creek is so gnarley. i don’t have an excuse now · “The KKK” does not exist. What does exist is a collection of Klan groups, which mostly do not like each other. Does anyone know specifically which Klan group @splcenter gave money to? Google has not been helpful. · “There was a time when violating international humanitarian law required at least some effort at justification. That pretense is eroding fast. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without meaningful consequence sent a signal heard around the world: the rulebook can be discarded, and nothing will happen. What followed has been a cascade. In Gaza, entire residential blocks were leveled with explanations that grew thinner each time. In Iran, over 82,000 civilian structures have been documented as destroyed. Senior officials have made public statements treating civilian protections not as legal obligations but as obstacles to victory. The targeting of civilian infrastructure has become strategic. Media towers, internet cables, power grids, water systems: these are now first-day targets, not collateral damage. In Ukraine, Russia has systematically attacked the energy grid through multiple winters, weaponizing cold against the civilian population. The line between military target and civilian infrastructure has not blurred. It has been deliberately erased.” · medical hack so your doctor ordered a test or treatment and your insurance company denied it · What’s True – HIPAA laws entitle patients to access to their medical records (with limited exemptions), and insurers unable to document adherence to healthcare laws could conceivably reverse a denial decision to avoid hassle. … What’s False – Insurers are not required to designate a “HIPAA Compliance Officer,” nor are they obligated to provide the names and credentials of everyone involved in a coverage decision. · Is that the kind of refrigerator door that kids would play with, and lock themselves inside and suffocate? · “On ITV and BBC they talk about the curse, Philosophy is useless, theology is worse” Mark Knopfler, “Industrial Disease” · The Mighty Man Shall Be Humbled, The Mean Man Shall Be Brought Down, Woe Unto Them That Call Evil Good, And Good Evil That Put Darkness, For Light And Light For Darkness, That Put Bitter For Sweet, And Sweet For Bitter Woe Unto Them, That Are Wise In Their Own Eyes, Based On Isaiah 5:15-21 · i have behaved poorly. i have behaved bravely. val kilmer · Med club … This is a test. I have never journalled on my phone. It is slow but manageable. I had to move to another part of the couch, bc the neighbor was shining a sotlight in my face. I think of Shelby Foote writing with an old fashioned inkpen, how that makes his writing much more laborious and thought intensive. Some typers move so fast as to be ahead of their thoughts. Getting back to this … I only use one thumb. I envy the kids who blaze away with two thumbs. Maybe someday with enough practice i can do that. I am already much better than before. This is the second time on the porch. I85 never stops making that racket, nor should it. I wonder if people have background content of this, like waves crashing. · 34 years ago, a jury in California acquited the policemen accused of beating up Rodney King. There was a great deal of anger. At the time, I was working in the Healey Building downtown. When this anger erupted in Atlanta, I had a ringside seat · This is an clickbait tribute to a recently deceased performer. The AI voice calls him co EE · This content was published April 28, 2025 · This time last year, I listened to Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem, a 27 hour podcast series about the Zionist movement from 1894 to 1982. I became a huge @martyrmade fan. The events of the last year have only reinforced this · Hasanbara – Content that supports the State of Israel by attacking the character of her critics. @hasanthehun @martyrmade @NickJFuentes @jessesingal @brad_polumbo @CNN @FoxNews @MSNOWNews · fiction is the truth inside the lie · On any given night at the Watering Hole, someone would play the perfect country western song on the jukebox. Last week, David Allan Coe left this planet. It is a good time to tell a story · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress Jack Delano took the social media picture in October 1940. “Workmen at the Woodman Potato Company just finishing lunch in a small room at the store house that serves as a lunchroom. Caribou, Maine”
©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Watering Hole Story
This content was published May 27, 2008. … Last week, David Allan Coe went to the perfect country and western song in the sky. This is a good time to tell a story.
PG and his neighbor DA went out to drink beer and shoot pool. The destination was a place called the Watering Hole, formerly a Veterans of Foreign Wars. There had been a TV repair store next door. When the county legalized bars, the VFW went somewhere else, and the Watering Hole was born. The TV repair store became the game room. You could see on the floor where the counter used to be.
This was a weeknight. The only other customer was an intoxicated gentleman. The drunk was fussing with the bartender when PG and DA walked in. A few minutes later, PG got lucky and hit a good shot on the pool table. He got a bit cocky and said And now for my next trick. The drunk staggered into the game room, and lay down on an empty pool table. DA replied, Is that your next trick?
Before long, it was time to go home. As PG and DA were leaving, the drunk was arguing with the bartender. He wanted to buy a twelve pack to take home with him. He won the argument, and started walking up Clairmont Road with his prize.
PG got a block or so away from the place, and realized what was going on. He turned around, and saw the drunk sitting in front of a 7-11 store, drinking a beer. PG drove in front of him and stopped the car. DA got out, walked over to the curb, picked up the eleven pack, and walked over to the car with it. The drunk stood up and yelled obscenities as the car pulled off into the night.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Jack Delano took the social media picture in October 1940. “Tractor-drawn potato digger in a field near Caribou, Maine” ©Luther Mckinnon 2026 · selah
Letter To Darryl Cooper
This content was published April 28, 2025. … I recently finished listening to Fear & Loathing in the New Jerusalem parts 1-6. I listened to part 7 shortly after October 7. I only listened to 1-6 after the Douglas Murray went on JRE to promote his new book. I have a few thoughts about this intense experience. If you could find the time to read this, I would be honored. I also plan to post this letter on my blog, chamblee54.WordPress.com, and at r/martyrmade. I have made 4 blog posts about listening to FLNJ. 041525 041825 042325 042625
We have never met in person. However, after listening to 22:54:47 of FLNJ, I do feel a connection. Listening to FLNJ is intense. I appreciate Douglas Murray’s reluctance to take this journey. This is the same person who said “So what. 30 plus hours of podcasting, you do that in a week”
The most obvious comment is about the insanity of forming opinions about Darryl Cooper based on a few comments on the Tucker Carlson show. FWIW, I disagree with the idea that Winston Churchill was the true villian of WWII. This was not the first time I had heard these ideas. For some bizarre reason, I read Pat Buchanan’s book a few years ago. I generally prefer fiction, and honestly don’t know what drew me to that book.
Winston Churchill is an actor in FLNJ. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Zionism, for whatever reason. I did do some digging into Mr. Churchill, and found a copy of his editorial Zionism Vs Bolshevism. I also found a quote: “As prime minister, in 1941, he proclaimed that “I was one of the authors” of Zionist policy. Indeed, among the lengthy catalogue of criticisms of Churchill was that “He was too fond of Jews.” My irony meter went crazy while listening to FLNJ.
There are many whatifs in the FLNJ story. One is the Ottoman Empire. What if OE had allied with the Allies, rather than the Central Powers? Or better yet, remained neutral. From my Wikipedia level view of history, it seems as though Germany simply made a better offer than France. That would have changed a lot of things.
Another missing link is the history of communism and Judaism. At one time, communism was seen as being a Jewish movement. Over the years, this evolved to the point where Israel is seen as being the enemy of communism. In the eighties, we heard a lot about the need to rescue Jews from anti-semitic persecution in the Soviet Union. How/when did this change take place?
On a related note, here is a quote from part two part two of the chamblee54 commentary. “While driving back, I heard the last few minutes of FLNJ-4. Darryl mentions something I had never heard before. At some point in this era, the United States and Great Britain restricted Jewish immigration. Darryl says the fear was about communist revolutionaries coming into the country. At this time, most of the Bolsheviks were Jewish, and the Russian revolution was seen by many as a Jewish revolution. When I try to find out more about this, the only google results are to sources concerned with anti-semitism or the holocaust. Any information about communism being a motivation for restricted emmigration is are very difficult to find.”
FLNJ-5 and FLNJ-6 are difficult to listen to. There are a lot of things I had never heard about that era. The Arab rebellion, the Zionist terrorism against the British mandate, the dirty business of getting the UN to approve the partition were all new to me. While I had knew that the Nakba existed (contrary to what some propagandists tell you today) I had no idea about the details. There is a saying about making laws and making sausages … you don’t want to be there when either one takes place. The same thing could be said about “nation building.” God is in the details, or maybe it is the Devil.
It is obvious that a 2016 show about Israel/Palestine is going to sound very different in 2025. It is a fitting irony that one of the last things you mentioned in FLNJ-6 was the quote from Refaat Alareer. “Sometimes a homeland becomes a tale, We love the story because it is about our homeland, and we love our homeland even more because of the story.”
On December 7, 2023, Dr. Alareer “was killed by a strike in Shajaiya, in northern Gaza … He was staying with his brother, his sister, and her four children, who were also killed.” Shortly before his death, Dr. Alareer had been in a twitter squabble with Bari Weiss. The IDF saw this as sufficient reason for a targeted assassination.
Anyway, thank you for the hard work you put into FLNJ. It took me 13 days to listen to it. If listening causes this much brain damage, I can only imagine how tough it would be to create those 23 hours. Thank you. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Jack Delano took the facebook picture in December 1942. “Chicago IL An unusually heavy fog in the early afternoon”
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