Equality vs. Equity
Equality vs. Equity is a recent bit of internet wisdom. It shows three kids watching a baseball game, from behind the outfield fence. In the left side, all three kids are standing on one box each. The tallest sees over the fence, as does the kid in the middle. The shortest kid is behind the wall. This all-caps EQUALITY is the bad news side of the picture.
In the right side frame, the tallest kid has feet on the ground, and sees over the fence. The middle kid is the same. The shortest kid stands on two crates, and can see over the fence. This is EQUITY.
To be fair, the graphic does make a point. People have different needs. If everyone gets the same help, then some will get too much, and others not enough. Maybe this is what is meant by the semantic wrangling. For those who think equity has something to do with home mortgages, the dictionary does recognize the kids-behind-the-fence definition.
Not all logic memes are equal. While the image of kids behind the outfield fence might have worked in Our Gang features, today you would need a ticket to get to the standing room section. And how did that little kid get on top of those two crates? Someone would have to help them up. Falling off is a painful possibility. Maybe the graphic gremlins can think of a better way to make their point.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. Fritz Henle took the pictures in November, 1942. “Nurse training. Through classes in pediatrics, student nurses learn how the right toys can be almost as important in getting a sick child well, as medicine and diet. Encouraging an interest in play and normal activities of childhood hastens convalescence.”
Who Invented The Word Racism?
Writers tackle was rampaging through Brookhaven. PG looked in a list of old product, and found a feature built on the output of Teju Cole. He has a dandy article, at the New Yorker, about what is antiseptically called drone warfare. It is the twitter feed that gets attention. This is a repost.
@tejucole George Carlin’s original seven dirty words can all be said freely now. The one word you can’t say, and must never print, is “racist.”
The quote marks lend mystery to the tweet. Does he mean the dreaded “n word”? Or does he mean that other six letter slur? There is no shortage of people screaming racist in Georgia, often at the slightest provocation. There is an attitude that racism is the worst thing you can be accused of, and that, once accused, you are guilty until proven innocent. If you do a bit of research into racism, the word, you will see some interesting things.
The concept of groups of people not liking each other is as old as mankind. The word racism apparently did not exist before 1933 (merriam webster), or 1936 (dictionary dot com).
Something called the Vanguard News Network had a forum once, What is the true origin of the term racism? This forum is problematic, as VNN seems to be a white supremacist affair. One of the reputed coiners of the R word was Leon Trotsky, also referred to as Jew Communist. Another Non English speaker who is given “credit” for originating the phrase is Magnus Hirschfeld. As for English, the word here is: “American author Lawrence Dennis was the first to use the word, in English, in his 1936 book “The coming American fascism”.”
The terms racist and racism seem to be used interchangeably in these discussions. This is in keeping with the modern discussion. As Jesus worshipers like to say, hate the sin, love the sinner.
The Online Etymology Dictionary has this to add: “racist 1932 as a noun, 1938 as an adjective, from race (n.2); racism is first attested 1936 (from French racisme, 1935), originally in the context of Nazi theories. But they replaced earlier words, racialism (1871) and racialist (1917), both often used early 20c. in a British or South African context. In the U.S., race hatred, race prejudice had been used, and, especially in 19c. political contexts, negrophobia.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The Destructive Life
display of a link in this facility does not indicate approval of content ~ Robert (Bob) McBath – Tells family history ~ ts madison ~ assorted white tears ~ david bowie ~ iggy pop ~ So A Nazi Walks Into An Iron Bar: the Meyer Lansky Story ~ The The Rise and Fall of German-American Bund ~ Ken Scott ~ talking toilet ~ The Elusive Stormy Petrel A question mark next to an item indicates doubt as to its petrelosity. ~ KELLYANNE CONWAY IS WHITE ~ trivia quiz ~ saccharine ~ Official says phone threats to Jewish community centers appear coordinated ~ most accurate map ever ~ Sessions spoke twice with Russian ambassador during Trump’s presidential campaign, Justice officials say ~ The destructive life of a Mardi Gras bead This reads like the ramblings of someone who decided his white savior thesis in advance then went to find quotes to support it. ~ Thirteen things I wish I’d learned before choosing non-monogamy ~ Lou Reed’s speedfreak symphony: ‘Metal Machine Music’ and me ~ Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention – The Beat Club, Bremen, Germany 10 06 68 ~ Right now, you can apply your brain power towards helping the Smithsonian transcribe the 52,000 jokes from Phyllis Diller’s gag file. Throughout her career, Diller used a gag file to organize her material. The file consists of a steel cabinet with 48 drawers (along with a three-drawer expansion) containing over 52,000 3-by-5–inch index cards, each holding a typewritten joke. The National Museum of American History is seeking your help to make these gags more easily discovered via search. ~ Help us transcribe Phyllis Diller’s jokes—and enjoy some laughs along the way! ~ Morehouse College President: We Got Played ~ oscars ~ Maybe the Media Shouldn’t Cover Every Single Hate-Crime Threat ~ The Dirty Secret Behind the Jeff Sessions Mess ~ Nicholas Burton ~ war story ~ Mary Gaitskill reads Vladimir Nabokov Mary Gaitskill reads “Symbols and Signs,” Vladimir Nabokov’s first story published in The New Yorker, and discusses it with fiction editor Deborah Treisman. ~ Vladimir Nabokov on What Makes a Good Reader Lux Narayan: What I learned from 2,000 obituaries ~ Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita and Poems ~ Obituary Mambo ~ Ten Questions for President Trump ~ Drake’s List of The Most Common Logical Fallacies ~ The Irrationality of Alcoholics Anonymous ~ Rania Khalek ~ How U.S. Support for Syrian Rebels Drove the Refugee Crisis That Trump Has Capitalized On ~ @captainsdead don’t start chasing applause and acclaim. that way lies madness. ~ Ad breaks help support TS Madison Hinton ~ I googled “who owns #youtube” People also ask … Who is the owner of the moon? ~ is prognosticator something you blow out of your nose? ~ there is something ironic about a selfie, with a hat that says NIAGA TAERG ACIREMA EKAM ~ I did not have international relations with that country ~ Verwunderlich, dass sich der Tagespass scheinbar so viel leichter bestellen lässt. Handynummer angeben, fertig. Was das Redaktionssystem selbst betrifft, so kommt das ja auch noch für andere Zeitungen zum Einsatz, siehe z.B. haz.de ~ The popup ad for this article has this option: No thanks, I don’t need important updates. ~ This posting has been deleted by its author. ~ The Epidemic of Gay Loneliness An article like this is like a Rorschach test. People that read it, or make an effort, get different things out of it. This is based on your experience. It says as much about you as it does the article. The author almost lost me when he said “I’ve never known anyone who died of AIDS.” I stayed, and made it about three fourths through before I began to involuntarily skim over paragraphs. The article made some good points. Many of these points I have heard many times before. ~ is the love baby of #facebook and #twitter called facebitter? ~ Something is technically wrong. Thanks for noticing—we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon. العربية Dansk Deutsch English English UK Español فارسی Suomi Filipino Français עִבְרִית हिन्दी Magyar Bahasa Indonesia Italiano 日本語 한국어 Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Norsk Polski Português Русский Svenska ภาษาไทย Türkçe 简体中文 ~ @FenBeaumont WHY ARE NONE OF THESE WHITE MALE CRIMINALS GOING TO PRISON?? @chamblee54 Because they don’t write in all caps. ~ :'( We will never eat here again they sent us coupons in the mail which was old & my brother & sister walked all the way up there for nothing now they blocked me from inboxing them the truth! :'( ~ In this house, we believe that black lives matter, women’s rights are human rights, and that no human is illegal. We know that science is real, and love is love. Kindness is important, as is proper grammar, and graphics that please the eye. ~ This is a fairly unique situation. Usually, the 6th district is gerry mandered to the point of no return. Even if Mr. Ossoff does win, he will face a very tough reelection in 2018. That said, I think the problem is gerry mandering, rather than restrictive voting hours. ~ 1/2 In this house, we believe that black lives matter, woman’s rights are human rights, and that no human is illegal. 2/2 We know that science is real. We feel that love is love. Kindness is important, as is proper grammar, and graphics that please the eye. ~ The Library of Congress is the source of today’s photographs. Russell Lee shot the pictures in April 1942. “The evacuation of Japanese-Americans from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order. Japanese-American family waiting for train to take them to Owens Valley” ~ selah
Click This Little Button
The first day of march, in the year of our drumph two thousand seventeen, sees PG moping through. A dreaded dental appointment was cancelled at the last minute yesterday, and is on track for tomorrow. The options are another root canal, to finish the one botched by another dentist, and getting the tooth extracted. Neither option is agreeable. Sometime the best course of action is to create a graphic poem, and write about it. When the going gets tough, the tough take notes.
The text for this production is from a cross examination of Oscar Wilde. The father of his bf called Mr. Wilde a somodite, and Mr. Wilde sued him for libel. The matter did not end well. Mr. Wilde tries to defend himself against charges of committing unnatural acts, which is a bit like a fish saying he does not know how to swim.
“The destructive life of a Mardi Gras bead” was on facebook. PG was looking for a Wilde source, and got distracted. The Salon piece was typical environmental consciousness. While the story about Chinese labor, and plastic waste, is probably a little bit true, it pales in comparison to the other things being done to planet earth. There was a lovely comment: “This reads like the ramblings of someone who decided his white savior thesis in advance then went to find quotes to support it.”
The poem was finished, and greeted with rousing indifference by the innertubes. Numerous detours were made while en route to the destination. If any of them merit attention, they will be noted. One quote was copied, maybe on facebook, maybe on twitter, maybe on facebitter. “petty can be clever or funny, it can advance careers and give the satisfaction of revenge, but never mistake it for a virtue”
PG was greatly amused by his thought, and decided to share it with the world. ” is the love baby of #facebook and #twitter called #facebitter?” When he clicked on twitter to post this… “Something is technically wrong. Thanks for noticing—we’re going to fix it up and have things back to normal soon. العربية Dansk Deutsch English English UK Español فارسی Suomi Filipino Français עִבְרִית हिन्दी Magyar Bahasa Indonesia Italiano 日本語 한국어 Bahasa Melayu Nederlands Norsk Polski Português Русский Svenska ภาษาไทย Türkçe 简体中文.
It is now two days later. PG pulled a bunch of tweets from TextsFromLastNight. Mixed in with texts about mardi gras antics were links to what could charitably be called clickbait. These are meme collections at the TFLN website, like 23 Greatest Things Ever Spoken To A Guy’s Member. If you go to the page, you will be greeted with a popup ad: “Quick! While no one’s looking Click this little button for TFLN texts and updates We also send dope emails”
The clickbait was separated from the other material. The text was broken into iambic pentameter, with rhymes assigned when appropriate. The best fourteen lines were assembled into a sonnet. Willie is shaking, and peering from his grave. The four lines that did not make the cut are today’s poem. Since it is so small, we can include it here: awesome peeps who made new friends, things you text that can ruin a top chef, server spills his worst customer blends, topless midgets who do not give an eff.
#KeepTwitterPositiveBy is the top non sponsored trending item at the moment. There was a tweet about enforced positivity. (spell check suggestion: positivity) PG was going to copy it, but clicked on the wrong spot, and lost it forever. Such is life.
Leftovers is now on the innertubes. Pictures were performers from the L5P Visual Arts Alliance. The size is a new standard, 720×666. The other standard, golden rectangle 720×447, is still available. The new standard was used first for portraits, mostly soldiers from the War Between the States. It is the standard width, with a satanic height. 666 is a fun number. The highest prime is 37, multiplied by 3x3x2, or 18. For some reason this number is credited with being the number of the devil.
The Library of Congress is the source of today’s photographs. Russell Lee shot the pictures in April 1942. “Los Angeles, California. Japanese-American evacuation from West Coast areas under U.S. Army war emergency order. Japanese-American child who will go with his parents to Owens Valley.
World Premieres In Atlanta
Several movies have had a world premiere in Atlanta. We will take a look today. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Information about the films is from the Internet Movie Database. This is a repost.
As some of you may know, “Gone With The Wind had it’s world premiere at the Lowes Grand Theater on December 15, 1939. The Lowes Grand site is the current location of the Georgia Pacific building. There is a vacant lot next door, on top of some MARTA paraphernalia. This lot was the site of the Paramount Theater, another movie palace that did not survive.
The GWTW premiere was a big deal. Ten year old Martin Luther King Jr. sang with his church choir. Clark Gable requested a private meeting with Margaret Mitchell, who became the envy of every woman in America. When Mr. Gable checked out of his hotel, a lady was going to be given his room. The clerk asked for a minute to change the sheets on the bed, and the lady said, no, I want to sleep on the same sheets as him.
It was the golden age of movies, and the next year Atlanta hosted the first showing of “Who Killed Aunt Maggie”. The premiere was at the Rialto, on October 24, 1940. The review at IMDB said it was an enjoyable mystery, even if it was a cliche fest. It is not often seen today.
In 1946, “Song Of The South” had it’s premiere at the Fox Theater. SOTS is a controversial item these days. It was based on the Uncle Remus stories, which were written down by Joel Chandler Harris. For those who don’t know, these stories were told by the rural black people that Mr. Harris knew when he was growing up near Eatonton GA. As Wikipedia tells the tale “Controversy surrounding his southern plantation themes, narrative structure, collection of African-American folklore, use of dialect, and Uncle Remus character, however, has denigrated the significance of Harris’ work”. In other words, Brer Rabbit is not politically correct.
The reviews at IMDB tell a different tale. To them, SOTS is a happy children’s movie. The Disney company seems to wish it would go away and be forgotten. Copies are tough to come by these days. PG would say to see it for yourself and make up your own mind, but Disney won’t let you.
The female lead in SOTS was Ruth Warrick. Miss Warrick was a versatile talent. Her first movie role was in “Citizen Kane”, as Kane’s first wife. She was in many movies, before moving to television. She was perhaps best known as Phoebe Tyler, in the soap opera “All My Children”. Wikipedia tells a story about her, that is ironic for the female lead of “Song Of The South”
“In July 2000, she refused to accept a lifetime achievement award from the South Carolina Arts Commission because she was offended by legislators’ decision to move the Confederate flag from the state Capitol dome to another spot on the grounds in response to a boycott of the state by flag opponents. A lifelong supporter of African-American rights, she felt the flag should be removed completely, and commented, “In my view, this was no compromise. It was a deliberate affront to the African-Americans, who see it as a sign of oppression and hate.”
In 1949, the Paramount had the first screening of “The Gal Who Took The West”. The female lead was Yvonne De Carlo, who later achieved immortality as Lily Munster. In November 1951, the spotlights returned to Lowes Grand for “Quo Vadis”.
The last film in the GSU picture collection is “The Last Rebel”. This western had it’s premiere at the Rialto, May 27, 1958. The movie was a return to Atlanta glory for Olivia De Havilland. The film is the story of a man, whose wife dies in a fire during the war between the states. PG questions the use of the Stars and Bars on the marquee.
In 1974, Ringo Starr produced and acted in “Son of Dracula”. The movie had it’s world premiere at the Cherokee Plaza Theater. Cherokee Plaza is a shopping center on Peachtree Road, just east of the Atlanta city limits. The theater was torn down during a renovation, and the space is currently the produce department at Krogers.
A local radio station hired a band to play in the parking lot at the premiere. At some point, a long limousine pulled up to a stage, and Ringo Starr and Harry Nillson got out. Both were wearing sunglasses, even though it was after dark. Ringo got on the stage, waved a wand at the crowd, and said “I am turning you into frogs”. He went inside to see the movie, the crowd went home, and the movie was mercifully forgotten.
In 1981, PG went to a supper in an apartment building (now a vacant lot) across from First Baptist Church on Peachtree Street. There was a commotion down the street at the Fox, and PG went to see what it was. “Sharkey’s Machine” had it’s World Premiere that night.
The Six G-ds of Christianity
There is a discussion brewing in the Jesus Worship blogosphere on the question of “Is Christianity really monotheistic ”. This is in response to a post, on the subject of the unquestioning Christian .
There is a “motivational” poster, with the headline “Ten signs you are an unquestioning Christian”. One of these (either number one or ten) deals with monotheism. To wit: “You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of G-ds claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of your G-d.” Some writers are promising/threatening to write about all ten of these arguments, and the feature on monotheism is the first.
PG is a recovering Baptist, who is severely alienated from Jesus. He does suspect that there is a G-d, and is in no way an “atheist”. The tracts linked to above tend to break down the discussion to atheists vs. christians, which is highly misleading.
PG has been knocking around for some time the idea of a post about the six G-ds of Jesus Worshipers. The appearance of this series…at blogs that ban PG from commenting…has spurred him into action. Whether or not there will be more comments (from PG) remains to be seen.
Christianity claims to be a monotheistic religion. This means, there is only one G-d. In contrast, the Romans and Greeks had G-ds and G-ddesses galore, and the Hindus have literally millions of deities. In what was claimed by some as an advancement, the Jews worshiped one G-d. (Zoraroastrians are said to be monotheistic, and did it before the Jews. There may be others.)
One of the sacred tracts of Judaism and Christianity is the ten commandments . The first three relate to the concept of monotheism, and the proper way to talk about G-d.
1-Thou shalt have no other G-ds before me.
2-Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
3-Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy G-d in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
As a side note, PG has heard something about the use of Lord as a name for G-d. The riff is that “Lord” was an expression for an English nobleman. When the Bible was translated by James I, his workers used the L word as a synonym for G-d. The words for G-d in the Greek and Hebrew texts that comprised the Bible do not translate as Lord…that word was inserted by the anglocentric workers of James I. This is something that PG read in a book by Tom Robbins, and has no other source for. It may, or may not be true. If it is, then it just might be a violation of the third commandment.
Getting back to monotheism, does Christianity live up to the first commandment? This may seem to be a silly question when you consider the concept of the trinity. At some point in the early days of Jesus Worship, a decision was made to split G-d into three parts. We now had the father, the son, and the holy ghost. (Which makes for a neat blessing…the father the son the holy ghost, whoever eats fastest gets the most) The first commandment is still in effect, but, well, you just have to understand. The Jews continued to worship one G-d, and when Mohammed started his franchise, he changed the name to Allah. In that version, there is no G-d but Allah, and Mohammed is his messenger.
Meanwhile, the Jesus Worshipers were good at converting and reproducing, and soon had a very popular religion. But was it one G-d only? The faith had a book of ancient texts that they call “the word of G-d”. The fact that it was written, copied, edited and translated by man did not stop folks. The first commandment would seem to prohibit this custom, but, you just have to believe.
PG is willing to concede the point that he doesn’t understand the concept of the Trinity. He thinks it is a concoction of the Council of Nicea, and a violation of the first commandment. This is something that seems to happen a lot with Christianity…to proclaim one thing as a rule, to apparently violate that rule, but have a clever explanation that few seem to understand.
This does not explain the other G-ds of Christianity. For this discussion, we will focus on three…the Bible, Satan, and Salvation.
The Catholic Church had a conference to establish a consistent canon for their church. This conference became known as the Council of Nicea. (This conference is where the concept of the Triune G-d was formulated.) The texts in use by the church at the time were collected in one book. Some texts were not used, and there is a good possibility that the texts that were used were edited. This committee effort became known as the Bible.
During the protestant reformation, the new churches needed a source for their authority over the people. It was during this time that the concept of the Bible as the “Word of G-d” became known. This in effect made a G-d out of a book. This is in direct defiance of the First Commandment, which teaches to have no other G-d before you.
The book has been interpreted into many languages, and the interpretations have been interpreted. The star of the New Testament, Jesus, spoke Aramaic. His words were recorded, in Greek, many years after he *died*. Any quote from Jesus has been translated at least twice. This is from texts that were written many years after he lived. And yet, people talk about what Jesus taught, and have confidence, that they know what they are talking about. (The only things we know about Jesus is what the Council of Nicea chose to tell us.)
At some point, the idea began to float around that the Bible was not only the word of G-d, but that it was inerrant…that is, without errors. This would presume that no body in the chain of production made a mistake. This includes a scribe copying a text, and a Catholic editor assembling a canon. Nobody translating ancient languages, from ragged source materials, made a mistake. The people who make this claim seem to assume that they have a perfect understanding of this text. Is it a coincidence that the spell check suggestion for inerrant is ignorant?
This one is too blatant to let slide. When you declare a text to be the “word of G-d”, you are making a G-d out of a book. There is a semantic argument to be made… you can say that this isn’t worship. Lets say it out loud… calling the Bible the “word of G-d” makes a G-d out of a book, in violation of the First Commandment. This is not monotheism.
A quick look at the way Satan is treated by the church shows a curious similarity to worship. Yes, it is backhanded worship, and lots of negative things are said about Beelzebub. He with the horns and tail is given credit for all kinds of powers, and needs to be fought (with human collateral damage). Yes, Jesus Worshipers give the Devil his due, and then some.
The last “G-d” that we will look at today is Salvation, or the Christian scheme for life after death. Anyone living in the USA has heard this plan a thousand times, and many agree with it. Some do not agree with it. It is none of your business how PG feels. (Your guess is probably correct.)
What is undeniable is the importance placed on salvation in Christianity. It is discussed in every church meeting, often at top volume, and with dramatics that would shame a ham actor. Salvation is said to justify all the rudeness and verbal abuse that Jesus Worshiper inflict on their neighbors. If you do not agree with the concept of Salvation, you have no business belonging to a Christian Church.
Does this hysterical emphasis on Salvation make a G-d out of the concept? As with the Bible and Satan, it is a matter of perspective. A good argument could be made that Jesus Worshipers treat these three items with G-d like devotion, and make G-ds out of them.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This is a repost.
Mardi Gras
It is fat tuesday again. For someone who lived most of his life in Georgia, it is just another day.
In 1990, PG went to carnival. He rented sleeping bag space in a house on Marigny Street, just outside the quarter. It was like nothing he had ever seen.
This was 14 months after PG quit drinking. If he had life to do over, he would have gone to Mardi Gras first. He did feel good about going through that much drinking without being tempted to participate.
By the end of the Rex Parade, PG was getting tired of the whole shebang, Mob scenes of drunks, in costume, can get old. PG has not been back.
Two years later, the Grateful Dead was playing at the Omni, and the camp followers were in the parking lot. PG would go on his lunch hour and observe. A young lady walked by, and PG said Happy Mardi Gras. She gave him a string of beads.
Five years after that, PG had a boss from New Orleans. He looked like the Grinch who stole Christmas. He also hated Mardi Gras. PG did not know this, and greeted him Tuesday morning with a cheerful Happy Mardi Gras. If looks could kill, PG would have dropped dead. This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
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