Thirty Trayvons
The names in these pictures are children. They lived in Pakistan. They were killed by the United States. Unmanned aircraft routinely fly over Pakistan and kill people. There is no risk to any United States military personnel.
The background pictures are from a neighborhood fall festival. This is life in the United States. Some say that the children in Pakistan are killed to preserve this way of life. Kill them over there before they come kill us here.
A young man was killed in a Florida town. An enormous outcry was heard. His image was on every television set in America. Every name in this feature is a young person, killed by an the American military. Pictures of these children will not be seen on American television. If the POTUS had a son, he would not look like one of these children. This is a repost.
Oscar Wilde
October 16 is Oscar Wilde’s birthday. On that day in 1854, he appeared in Dublin, Ireland. He is one of the most widely quoted people in the english language. Some of those quotes are real. Since he was a published author, it should be easy to verify what he really said. This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
One night in 1974, PG was talking to someone, and did not know who Oscar Wilde was. The conversational partner was horrified. PG became educated, and learned about a misunderstanding with the Marquess of Queensberry. Soon the “Avenge Oscar Wilde” signs made sense.
Mr. Wilde once made a speaking tour in the United States. One afternoon, in Washington D.C., the playwright met Walt Whitman. Thee and thou reportedly did the “Wilde thing”.
The tour then went to Georgia. A young black man had been hired as a valet for Mr. Wilde on this tour. On the train ride from Atlanta to Augusta, some people told Mr. Wilde that he could not ride in the same car as the valet. This was very confusing.
After his various legal difficulties, Oscar Wilde moved to Paris. He took ill, while staying in a tacky hotel. He looked up, and said “either that wallpaper goes, or I do”. Soon, Oscar Wilde passed away.
25 Things About Georgia
These daze, there is more media than messages. People need things to write about. One popular theme, at least in itp/otp, is lists about life in Georgia. A web facility that should know better, thought catalog, recently put out 25 Things You Need To Know About Georgia.
25TYNTKAG was written by Jeremy Populus Jones. He seems to be the CEO of something called GAFollowers. (@GAFollowers on twitter) From the fine print: “GAFollowers was created on a “strength in numbers” foundation, finding a creative way to use free online social networking sites to strengthen the “bond” between people in Georgia to help better form this state. … GAFollowers is one of the largest twitter accounts in the state of Georgia that spans nearly every corner of the region.”
These lists about Georgia life usally have a few common comments. There is the heat, the bugs, the traffic, the multiple Peachtrees, and southern accents. They seldom mention the shameless corruption, religious mental illness, rampant obesity, or racial pandemonium. Lets take a look at 25TYNTKAG. Mr. Jones will be in blue, and Chamblee54 in green. This is a repost, with pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
1. The weather here is just as inconsistent as your ex-girlfriend. Not really. It gets cold in January, hot in July. Your ex-girlfriend is staying out of this.
2. We call all interstates in Georgia, “The Highway”. Most people use the number.
3. Only in Atlanta is everything named “Peachtree” without a single tree with peaches around. Peachtree is all over OTP.
4. Terio and Honey Boo Boo were born and raised here. You couldn’t do this without google. Terio is a chubby kid who dances. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
5. “Knuck if you Buck” is the song we will always get hype to no matter the age. Yuck.
6. White girls wear Nike shorts with big t-shirts covering their shorts. (How many can you spot?) Maybe there was a sale on big t-shirts at Walmart.
7. Zaxbys is what you eat. The TC comments said this is not accurate. They mentioned a certain spelling challenged company, that specializes in overpriced chicken sandwiches. At least the son of Mr. Zaxby doesn’t run off potential customers with his big mouth.
8. We call it a “rag” not a “washcloth”. Do people up north say a woman is on the washcloth?
9. Going outside at anytime during the summer instantly guarantees a minimum a 7 bug bites. This is mostly true. Who is counting?
10. In Georgia when someone ask, “Where you from?”, people usually reply with a county not a city. In Atlanta, when you say “Where are you from?” it is almost always somewhere outside of Georgia.
11. The speed limit is 65 mph but if you’re not going at least 80 mph you’ll be ran off the road. This is also true on surface roads. In hilly Atlanta, there are few places to pass on two lane roads.
12. In Georgia it’s not a shopping cart, it’s a buggy. Do people really say shopping cart? At Kroger it is a bascart. The stores have a bascart corral.
13. We get more inches of pollen in a week than inches of snow in a full year. Pollen season hits in early spring. It is rough for many people. The rest of the year gets relatively little pollen. There is a good ice/snow storm every ten years or so. This one is probably true.
14. You say Georgia, we say Jawja. Others say George-ah. To untrained ears they sound the same.
15. Sweet tea is our water. Very few people wash cars with sweet tea.
16. The night has been a success if you ended up at Waffle House. This is especially true if you are scattered, smothered, and covered.
17. In Georgia it’s necessary to look at the weather before picking out an outfit. A reason not to do numbered lists. Just think of what you have to say, write it down, and hope it is not copyrighted.
18. We pray that we get snow during the winters. The people who pray for winter storms are merchants. They have an inventory of batteries, milk, ice, and eggs to sell.
19. We are the creators of, “Turn Up”. You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.
20. Here in Georgia white girls can twerk. No Miley Cyrus. Ditto reaction to number 17. What was PG thinking of when he decided to do this post?
21. You will usually be 30 minutes away from just about every destination that you’re heading to. 22. There’s a Waffle House in walking distance of every Waffle House. These two have been combined, for obvious reasons. Do people proofread these lists before sending them out?
23. Any dark soda is simply called “Coke”. Many say Cocola, without the second syllable.
24. We pronounce it “Atlanna”. Whatever. Sometimes the second t is audible, sometimes not. It definitely is not the ATL, except to radio shouters.
25. Braves, Falcons & UGA are the teams we really care about. Tech fans may disagree. Ditto taxpayers, who don’t care if Rankin Blank gets a new stadium.
Bernie
The facebook comment was “Get to know Bernie Sanders.” There was a video attached. It was from the debate, held on Tuesday the 13th. With the help of the rush transcript, lets see what was said.
(Moderator Anderson) COOPER: … How can any kind of socialist win a general election in the United States? (Senator Bernie) SANDERS: Well, we’re going to win because first, we’re going to explain what democratic socialism is. … I think we should look to countries like Denmark, like Sweden and Norway, and learn from what they have accomplished for their working people.
AC asked BS a question. The response was to make a speech, which did not answer the question. Or maybe he did. Apparently, a democratic socialist is someone who makes nonsense speeches that fire up the base, but do nothing to solve the problem. Or maybe the plan is to compare the United States to a Scandinavian Country with as many people as Metro Atlanta. A country that does not have a 1989 mile border with a poor country.
COOPER: Denmark is a country that has a population — Denmark is a country that has a population of 5.6 million people. The question is really about electability here, and that’s what I’m trying to get at. … SANDERS: Well, first of all, let’s look at the facts. The facts that are very simple. Republicans win when there is a low voter turnout, and that is what happened last November. Sixty-three percent of the American people didn’t vote, Anderson. Eighty percent of young people didn’t vote. We are bringing out huge turnouts, and creating excitement all over this country. Democrats at the White House on down will win, when there is excitement and a large voter turnout, and that is what this campaign is doing.
Typically, the November election comes down to a handful of “swing states.” This is because the electoral college has stolen the presidential vote from the majority of Americans. If you have any questions, ask Al Gore how important it is to win the popular vote.
This was the first time PG had seen BS in a debate. It did not look good. To begin with, BS is an elderly man, who was probably ugly when he was younger. The years have not been kind to BS, or HDRC. There were three other men on the stage, but they don’t count.
BS comes across as a rather unpleasant person. He shouts a lot. BS comes across as a crusty old relative who is always right. After a while, you just want to ignore the old coot.
There were a few gems that are not getting attention. Like this, from a rant about gun control: “I believe that everybody in this country who has a mental crisis has got to get mental health counseling immediately.” Who will assign this counselor? What if the help makes the problem worse? Mental health is not an exact science. Is this going to be part of the overall government health care program, paid for “through a tax on Wall Street speculation.” This TOWSS is also going to provide tuition free college, and whatever wars the military industrial complex thinks are important.
SANDERS: “I am not a pacifist, Anderson. I supported the war in Afghanistan. I supported President Clinton’s effort to deal with ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. I support air strikes in Syria and what the president is trying to do.”
The military industrial complex is spending America into oblivion. The war in Afghanistan has helped nobody except the heroin dealers. The air war in Syria has the potential to drag America into a confrontation with Russia, while Israel sits next door eating popcorn. Is this what a “Democrat Socialist” does? Especially one know to be a supporter of Israel.
Bernie has a vision about how these utopian programs are going to happen. “…But the only way we can get things done is by having millions of people coming together. If we want free tuition at public colleges and universities, millions of young people are going to have to demand it, and give the Republicans an offer they can’t refuse. If we want to raise the minimum wage to $15 bucks an hour, workers are going to have to come together and look the Republicans in the eye, and say, “We know what’s going on. You vote against us, you are out of your job.”
Semantics were central to the entertainment. BS was going to “explain what democratic socialism is.” And a facebookker had a question about the dueling hashtags.. “do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?” Does it have to be an either-or choice? Is the hashtag employed really that important? BS was quick to say that “black lives matter,” and had a wonderful speech memorized for “the reason those words matter.” Maybe this is another matter for the Tax on Wall Street Speculation. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Hocus Pocus Part Two
A few minutes ago, this second, and final, section of the book report on Hocus Pocus, by Kurt Vonnegut, was moving along. The formula for the magic number was being calculated. Then a power surge hit, and the unsaved product went to the digital graveyard, never to be seen again. If this had been Slaughterhouse Five, someone would say “so it goes.” However, this is Hocus Pocus, and SIG had been worn out by then.
The number in question relates to the protagonist, Eugene Debs Hartke. The number represents the number of women Mr. Hartke fucked, and the number of Asians killed by Mr. Hartke. A philosophical connection between the two acts is implied. One gets the impression that Mr. Hartke is a fantasy character for KV, whose life and death stats are not as impressive. The number is 82.
HP is, sad to say, not very good. It has the feel of contractual obligation. The satire is forced, and in some cases badly dated. When HP was written, smart people said a new ice age was coming. Today, the smart people are saying the opposite, except for the really smart people, who are on the oil industry payroll and poo poo global warming.
KV is one of those writers who like to throw “facts” in the fiction. The inside front cover of HP has a list of pages, where PG will stick his curmudgeonly nose. The first one is on page 92. (Page numbers in the section are from the peedeeff.) “Do I resent rich people? No. The best or worst I can do is notice them. I agree with the great Socialist writer George Orwell, who felt that rich people were poor people with money.” When a google search shows HP, and a meme, as the source of a quote, then you suspect hogwash. Does hogwash produce clean bacon?
Wikiquotes does not have this quote. The search words used were money, poor, and rich. FWIW, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act” is “disputed.”
There is a lovely quote about Mr. Orwell. “He could not blow his nose without moralising on conditions in the handkerchief industry.” Cyril Connolly, The Evening Colonnade (1973), in John Rodden, Every Intellectual’s Big Brother: George Orwell’s Literary Siblings (2006)
This quote is not in HP, but it is a fun story. @SlavojTweezek “”Communism doesn’t work,” Frank Zappa said, “because people like to own stuff.” Idiot. What do people’s likes have to do with communism?” This quote is plausible. Frank Zappa was a capitalist. He liked owning stuff, especially his own music. It should be easy to find a source. However, the best google can come up with is a compilation, “Quotes of Zappa,” in W. C. Privy’s Original Bathroom Companion. “
KV has become somewhat of a liberal icon, a Pall Mall smoking gargoyle of grooviness. Sometimes things that are written in 1989 are not as appealing in 2015. One example is using “oriental” to describe people of Asian origin. Another is this tidbit(p. 95): “She discovered in midlife that she was a lesbian, and ran off with the high school’s girls’ gym teacher to Bermuda, where they gave and probably still give sailing lessons. I made a pass at her one time at an Annual Townand-Gown Mixer up on the hill. I knew she was a lesbian before she did.”
Central to the action in HP is a prison outbreak. In the aftermath of this, the liberated prisoners crucified people they found in town. KV describes nails being driven into hands, which is not how the Romans did it. (p. 83) In Roman/Jewish crucifixions, the nail… really more like a spike, pulled out and used over and over … was driven into the wrist, into a space between two bones. These bones keep the arm securely attached to the cross. KV says (p. 103) “Crucifixion as a mode of execution for the very worst criminals was outlawed by the first Christian Roman Emperor, who was Constantine the Great.” Mr. Google seems to confirm this.
The rest of the cover notes are not as interesting now. It is ironic that a book, published in 1990, would have the main drag, in a key location, called Clinton Street. The only other thing to mention is the book mark that PG used on this book. It is from DeKalb county, and is designed to promote efficient water use. When you look at the corrugated plastic from one angle, the blue hippo says “you will save tens of gallons of water.” When viewed from another angle, the plastic says “take short showers, or half full baths,” while the blue hippo works out with a shower brush.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Roll Model
another monday morning collections of facebook comments i was too discreet to publish, links to things i never wrote about, disclaimers, boilerplate, and pictures of country roads going nowhere ~ @postcrunk the cultural fetishization of virginity and the economic fetishization of brand new products are the same thing ~ #Junky is a book where you appreciate the privilege of leaving the story for your own life ~ @SlavojTweezek @WernerTwertzog The hole, of course, is god. !~ sticks and stones may break my bones but words can also hurt me compliments make me uncomfortable i have social anxiety resting bitch face negative attitude jesus hates me i don’t believe you i am a wreck just go ~ I thought it was legal for two fruit crates to get married. ~ I don’t know if involving police is a good idea. Snitch is a worse insult than faggot. ~ Roseanne Barr? ~ are we keeping #carlyfiorina alive so we can harvest her brain? ~ foreplay ~ So far, Brookhaven government has been bad. Maybe Lysol could be our City Symbol. In no particular order, here is what I want to see: 1. Leave Pink Pony alone. 2. Secure the Greenspace at PDK. It would be OK to give the county a couple of acres on Clairmont to park their work vehicles. The rest of that lands needs to be a permanent passive green space. This is an opportunity that will not come back. Once this space is lost, it is lost forever. 3. Use vision and common sense while redeveloping the land around the Marta station. This is another one time opportunity that needs to be done carefully. I don’t have any thoughts on how to do this, except that we should be skeptical of the claims of developers. 4. The less commercial development the better. 5. Discourage the building of McMansions. Encourage the renovation of the existing houses. 6. Encourage the Police to be aggressive against bad drivers from outside the city. ~ @whitman632 The sheer magnitude of human insignificance is incomprehensible. ~ I hope no one takes their life after reading this post. Good intentions do not always lead to good results. ~ @BurnBrigettes @RISKshow @TheKevinAllison Why did the dead baby cross the road? he was trying to get to the post office use stamps dot com ~ I heard a teacher say that the best way to win an argument was to use statistics. The best way to get statistics is to make them up. ~ @ChrchCurmudgeon Hashtag unto others as you would have them hashtag unto you. ~ This is on top of my facebook feed right now.~ We never had any goals in Afghanistan. Our invasion was a knee jerk reaction to 911. The only other possible goal was to protect the heroin merchants, which has also been achieved. ~ @sullydish @robertwrighter ~ I believe a literary classic was written in Tennessee: 200 Yards to the Outhouse, by Willie Makeit and Betty Wont ~ In the immortal song “Hello Muddah Hello Faddah”, there is a scary line. “You remember Leonard Skinner He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner” Just Gimme Three Steps. ~ said it much better ~ libruls ~ what he said ~ @miragonz imagine how hard life is gonna be for the children of youtube celebrities ~ @AdviceToWriters Mere literary talent is common; what is rare is endurance, the continuing desire 2 work hard at writing. DONALD HALL ~ Maybe it is time to just admit that racism is anything that you don’t like, and is a meaningless all purpose insult. ~ @postcrunk thank god we’re the least religious generation ~ You’d rather pursue science than waste time contemplating metaphysics? That’s sad. Perhaps you knew that Newton was an alchemist, a philosopher, a historian, a theologian, and a warden of of the mint… and, in his spare time, a physicist and a mathematician. ~ 14 words: Candied lemon roasted brussel sprout and caramelized onion white pizza with roasted garlic sauce. ~ 33 characters left if you put this on twitter ~ the power went out and the machine opens in safe mode this is not the same as the old sm, where you could play games the only thing you can do in this sm is write there probably are other things to do but i am not going to look for them now ~ Eʟɛʍɛռtaʟ ɛaʀtɦ, tɦɛʀɛ’s օռʟʏ օռɛ ɖɨʀɛċtɨօռ , up ~ australian rupert murdoch is top trending topic he did not die he said usa needs a “real black” potus ~ The domain Whiteprivilege.com is listed for sale. Click here to inquire about this domain name. ~ Sedo LogoThis page provided to the domain owner free by Sedo’s Domain Parking. Disclaimer: Domain owner and Sedo maintain no relationship with third party advertisers. Reference to any specific service or trade mark is not controlled by Sedo or domain owner and does not constitute or imply its association, endorsement or recommendation. ~ Is Benghazi the best scandal the Repubs can dig up? ~ Maybe it is time for a discussion of how visible we want to be. Do you want to tell the commercial media that you are a “radical faerie,” with all the opportunities for misunderstanding that would involve? Or do we want to be a bit more opaque about it? Bear in mind, we don’t have memberships. You don’t join the faeries. (or not join, because someone said something you do not like) Anyone can call them self a “radical faerie.” Is it appropriate to call yourself a “radical faerie” when listing your qualifications? Maybe a “secret society” is more of the way to go.~ “He ain’t even from ATL! He just moved here and he just played y’all like sheep and pocketed sooooo much of your money.” That narrows it down to about 100,000 people. ~ @JamilSmith That Raven-Symoné used “Watermelonisha” as an example of a “black name” shows you how deep the internalized racism and self-hatred goes. ~ is “Black as a dice game at a church fish fry” racist? #Ebony magazine said it about #RavenSymone ~ Franklin Graham is the poster child for the dangers of nepotism ~ Quote Investigator has found no substantive linkage to Dorothy Parker. ~ I do not recommend Ian Curtis as a role model. ~ @SlavojTweezek You have no more right to demand that I be consistent than I have to demand that you be interesting. ~ PROTESTER ~ Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists. ~ @ListofX Arguing which politician is more authentic is like arguing which lion is more of a vegetarian. #Clinton vs #Biden ~ I thought entitlement was a type of chewing gum. ~ publix takedown ~ White Women, Please Don’t Expect Me to Wipe Away Your Tears ~ 9 Ways We Can Make Social Justice Movements Less Elitist and More Accessible ~ EVERYDAY SELF-LOVE COURSE ~ synchronicity ~ Davis: What Hurts Me Most Is ‘When Someone Tells Me My God Doesn’t Love Me’ ~ pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Page 43
There is an audio file available called Water Brothers. It is a benefit concert performed by David Crosby, Graham Nash, and Neil Young. After performing “Almost Cut My Hair”, Mr. Crosby starts to talk. “I’m going to sing the most positive song that I’ve written recently For a long time I didn’t write any positive songs, my friends used to puke when they saw me coming.” The song was Page 43.
Look around again It’s the same old circle
You see,it’s got to be It says right here on page 43
That you should grab a hold of it Else you’ll find It’s passed you by
Rainbows all around Can you find the silver and gold?
It’ll make you old The river can be hot or cold
And you should dive right into ‘It Else you’ll find It’s passed you by
Pass it ’round one more time I think I’ll have a swallow of wine
Life is fine Even with the ups and downs
And you should have a sip of it Else you’ll find It’s passed you by
These lyrics are courtesy of Lyrics007. The page is sponsored by McDonald’s Dollar Menu University.
Snopes has a piece about Page 43, sponsored by KIA and Maytag. It seems that some people think the song title refers to a page in the Old Testament. PG thinks it was chosen because it rhymes with “got to be.” There was a spot in the song for those three beats.
To pad out this post a bit, a visit to page 43 of the Old Testament will be made. The Bible used was given to PG by his parents on his birthday in 1962. It was published by The World Publishing Company, 2231 West 110 Street, Cleveland 2, Ohio.
Page 43 is verses 4 through 36 of Genesis 41. “4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.” The Pharaoh had a dream that troubled him. A wise man was consulted, who told of seven years of famine to come. A portion of the crops, from the prosperous years, was to be held in reserve, for the years of famine. “36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
There is one part of the song that PG has doubts about. The third part is about drinking. Those gifted with moderation can swim in this river. Others need to get to the shore before they drown. There is a time to enjoy your life, and there is also a time to lay off the jug. If you don’t keep a portion of your good harvest in reserve, life will run over you while it is passing you by.
This repost was written like Kurt Vonnegut.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Duane Allman And The Coricidin Bottle
Gregg Allman appeared on Live Talks LA, selling a book, My Cross to Bear. Yes, he was coherent. Mr.Allman says something about going through rehab seventeen times. No one argues disputes that he has had an interesting life.
The chat has a few parts left out. Dicky Betts and Cher are not mentioned. The title of “strangest dude I ever met” goes to Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson, aka the black guy in the group. Gregg says he used to listen to stuff by Roland Kirk.
The story of Duane Allman learning to play slide guitar is good. Duane was sick. Gregg came to see his brother, who was playing the guitar in a new way. It seems the doctor had given him some pills called Coricidin. You take the pills out of the glass bottle, soak the label off, and you have a guitar slider.
When PG was a kid, his uncle was a representative for the company that sold Coriciden. There were boxes of samples in the house, which all came in the glass bottle. PG had not heard that name for forty eight years. The spell check suggestion is Coincidence.
Not everyone at amazon was impressed by the book. “the book was so damged the binding and jacket were ripped that a did not read the book and will not buy an more nick malick.”
This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. There are two group shots, broken down into smaller images. One is a graduating class of a nursing school at Georgetown University. The photographer lists the date as between 1905 and 1945.
The other image is a line of people waiting to vote. The well dressed citizens are in Clarenden VA. The date is November 4, 1924. The democratic presidential candidate, John W. Davis, was nominated on the 103rd ballot of the democratic convention. He lost to Calvin Coolidge.
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