The Tortured Struggle
X does not like linking to a post. I write a description, and leave a link in the comments. Yesterday, it looked like this: “Is there a difference between God and Man? If so, where do you draw the boundary? If you are bored by this type of conversation, then you can always enjoy the pictures. They are from the GSU library. The featured photograph is a 1958 Krystal restaurant, on Lee Street in SW Atlanta.”
Facebook had a response: “I am so inexplicably bored to tears by that tedious conversation. The only way either side can prove their point is to die. The pictures are nice. Further proof that there isn’t any god, only the tortured struggle between man and his own psyche. Thanks for sharing.”
My smartass reaction was that “the tortured struggle between man and his own psyche” was a good description of God. Or, to quote someone more popular than Jesus, “God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” But I didn’t want to start trouble, so I clicked “Like,” and went on my way.
One person who talked about that tortured struggle was Billy Graham. One of the photographs yesterday was the marquee at the Tower Theater, for a 1954 Billy Graham Crusade. Sixteen years later, a Shea Stadium crusade featured Anita Bryant.
The Tower theater is now a parking lot. “The Tower Theater, previously the Erlanger Opera House, was located at 583 Peachtree Street. It was originally constructed in 1790. In the 1950’s the theater was turned into a Cinerama, and the name changed to Martin Cinerama. The theater would also be known as Atlanta Theater, and Columbia Theater. The building was razed in 1995.”
The Erlanger Opera House was probably not built in 1790. I decided to do some checking up, and began by seeing when the North Avenue Presbyterian Church was built next door. This is where the investigation took a curious turn. “The church was constructed from Stone Mountain granite donated by charter members whose family owned the mountain and were in the granite quarry business. It was occupied for the first time for the Thanksgiving service in 1900.”
“The building program was helped immeasurably by the generosity of the Merssrs. William H. and Samuel H. Venable, who donated the granite out of which the building was constructed.” · “William Hoyt Venable (1852-1905) and Samuel Hoyt Venable (1856-1939) were involved with the Stone Mountain quarrying industry. The Venable brothers were the sole owners of Stone Mountain and much surrounding land which they purchased in 1887 at a claimed cost of $350,000.”
“James Venable (1901-1993) was the Imperial Wizard of the National Knights of the Klan from 1963 to 1987, “which he organized as one of several rival Klan factions nationally.” (NY Times) Venable had but continued the family tradition. As a 13 year old, he attended the 1915 Klan resurgence and rally on top of Stone Mountain. He was with his uncle, Sam Venable, who, as one of the owners of Stone Mountain, also became the secretary of the Klan.” … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These details are from picture #06665, “Bathing Beauty Pageant, 1925, Huntington Beach CA.”
Thou Art That
It started out as a joke comment. Thank God for secular humanism. · You’re welcome. I got to thinking, and wondered what the punch line was. Is there a difference between God and man?
Zen and the art of motorcycle repair says that the division of God and man, subject and object, is the dirty work of Aristotle. I am not philosophically grounded enough to know, but suspect that unity is better than division. Is the earth a unified whole, “thou art that”?
Now, the truth just might be that God is separate from man. While unity may sound appealing, it might not be the way things operate. Just because a belief makes you happy does not mean that it is true. Let no man bring together what God has rent asunder.
If there is a division between God and man, then where does the boundary lie? Pictures are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The featured image:The Krystal, Lee Street, SW, 1958. This is a repost. Is it art?
Short Stories
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh (SIGH-eed say-RAH-fiz-ah-dee) is one of the authors featured at The Writer’s Voice, a podcast from The New Yorker. When I went to the library website for my reading fix, I put his name in the search engine. American Estrangement, a collection of his short stories came up. Another result was The Best American Short Stories 2019 – (The Best American Series ®), featuring a story by SS. With short stories you can go from one book to another, skipping over the ones that don’t catch your fancy. It gave me some waiting room distraction for a while. … Today’s appreciation is a drabble-drone. Six paragraphs, 100 words each, with no control over the process once the word counter starts.
A Beginner’s Guide to Estrangement Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
Danush Jamshid, aka Danny McDade, goes to Tehran to see his bio-dad for the first time in fifteen years. Many Tehran buildings have large, optimistic murals, commemorating “The imposed war” (jang-e taḥmili) aka The Iran-Iraq war. This conflict cost over a million lives, and is widely seen as an effort by the West to destroy the Islamic Republic. The fighting was encouraged by the West, with the United States sending weapons to both sides. The idea was to have Iran and Iraq fight each other, rather than fight Israel. The United States has never forgiven Iran for deposing the Shah.
A, S, D, F Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
He has gone from the cafe in a Denver art museum to typing letters in an Aspen gallery. The key word is typing. The owner is an old fogey. Letters must be produced with analog typing, with absolutely no mistakes. The computer sits abandoned, waiting for the next visit from a technician. It is like the lady from Gainesville Blueprint. She insisted that every job be perfect, with no background, and all the lines clearly showing. A job that Shacoh could knock out in a few minutes would take hours. The bosslady was the only one who knew the difference.
Audition Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
A nineteen year old is working for his dad at a construction site. One day, Duncan Dioguardi needs a ride home. 19yo takes him home, and stays to smoke crack. 19yo has dreams of being an actor, unlike Duncan, who lives with his mom in a sketchy neighborhood. 19yo goes back to Duncan’s place one more time. Later, 19yo gets a part in a play few people will see. Seinfeld was on the TV while 19yo and Duncan passed the aluminum foil crack pipe, with his comedies about nothing really. Is this a case of art imitating life without trying?
Bronze Jeffrey Eugenides
“Bronze” is the story of Eugene, a baby gay who takes the train to New York for a decadent 1978 weekend. Stigwood takes Eugene to lots of trashy clubs, and funnels vodka and drugs into his painted lips. Eugene is from a small town, and thinks homoze are supposed to dress like a color blind Liberace. Stigwood has another bf, who has an ex in Texas, dying of some mysterious disease. Finally, the boytoy weekend is over. Eugene takes the train back to college, and talks to the ballerina he asked out. “You are strange, not in a good way.”
Omakase Weike Wang
A man, and his Chinese gf, go to dinner at an uber-expensive sushi restaurant in Harlem. They are both microaggressing at times, which seems to be part of the routine at this type of venue. The chef mentions that he was fired at his last job, and the clueless man insists on finding out why. The chef mentions a dispute with his previous boss, and says that the previous boss was Chinese. This irritates the Chinese gf, who has drank enough saké to let it show. There is an omakase place in West Midtown, charging $100 plus, like I’ll go.
The Great Interruption: A Story of a Famous Story of Old Port William and How It Ceased to Be Told (1935-1978) Wendell Berry
The rip-roaring tale of a small town boy who likes to go for walks. He finds a place on a dirt road, hidden by trees from the main road. One day a vehicle pulled into this spot. Inside the vehicle was a prominent citizen, and a young lady. They were both married to other people. The small town boy climbed a tree, overlooking the vehicle. He then climbed out on a branch, to get a better view. The branch broke, depositing the small town boy on the back of the prominent citizen. The story was supposed to be a secret.
Where It Starts
This is a repost from January 9, 2021. This was three days after the January 6 incident. In thirteen days, Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated. This election was not contested. … I had never heard of Stacey Abrams. She was a little known legislator, running for Governor. Then there was a controversy about the DSA. They promoted the disruption of a campaign event. A band of ladies started to shout down Stacey Evans, the other person in the Democratic primary.
Miss Abrams supported shouting down her opponent. “I do not believe that you silence those who feel they are voiceless, because the minute we do that we are no better than those who tell people they can’t kneel in protest.” The DSA is a lot of things, but it is not voiceless. They make a lot of noise.
As we all know, Miss Abrams nearly got elected Governor. She ran on a curious platform. Her main issue was claiming that the Republicans engaged in something called “voter suppression.” Miss Abrams famously not-conceded the election. It became an article of faith in Georgia that the election was stolen from her.
A few days after the election, there was a protest rally inside the State Capitol. Such events are forbidden, by law, inside the Capitol. During this event, a state legislator, Nikema Williams, got herself arrested. Stacey Abrams supports the illegal protest rally. In 2020, Nikema Williams was elected to Congress.
We all know what happened Wednesday. Donald Trump lost the election. He claimed the election was stolen from him. He spoke to a rally of angry supporters. The mob proceeded to invade the U.S. Capitol. Much damage was done, both to the Capitol, and what remains of Mr. Trump’s reputation.
There is no obvious connection between the rhetoric of Stacey Abrams, and Donald Trump. Mr. Trump probably would not have been done anything different, if Stacey Abrams had not led the way. This are both examples of what happens when an irresponsible politicians encourage bad behavior from the mob. When you lose an election, you should concede defeat, and move on. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The men are Union soldiers from the War Between the States.
Insane Sell-Outs
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Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – If You Don’t Know Me By Now · Soul Train Video
The Butthole Surfers Were Drug Fuelled, Insane, Sell-Outs and They Were Brilliant
Darryl W. Bullock on the gay men who ran the Swinging Sixties
Be at War with Your Vices, at Peace with Your Neighbours, Let Every New Year Find You …
FBI investigating New Orleans incident as potential terrorist act; suspect dead
Ukraine just stopped Russian gas flows to Europe. Here’s who’s most at risk
MAGA goes to war with itself over how much racism is enough let’s all settle in and …
Microsoft deprecating WordPad is everything that’s wrong with Microsoft
artie shaw · calamus part three · SELA KAMPUCHEA · wordpad· mamas and papas
shroud of turin · bluesky · For Love Alone · springway · camerado
ted nugent · i love the rain · national debt · cinematica · don martin
wordpad · walmart incident · jimmy’s kids · bh surfers · amy carter
here are my weekly notes, for the last week we were blessed with Jimmy Carter. The picture was taken in Plains GA, July 30, 1966. This was during Jimmy’s first run for Governor. · FE: Is there any truth to the rumor that Amy Carter was one of your fans down there [in Georgia]? KING: Yeah, She was a huge fan. We met her. PAUL: Yeah. Jimmy as well. Jimmy and Rosalyn came to pick her up. It was a pretty touching experience. I didn’t touch him, though. Gibby touched his penis to Amy Carter’s suitcase which was, five minutes after that, touched by Jimmy Carter, so… FE: Was she staying with the band? PAUL: No. She was staying with this girl who invited us to her parents’ house while her parents were out of town. Her brother was the boyfriend of Amy Carter at the time. She was staying at the house and they came to pick her up one time after a show. At four o’clock in the morning, believe it or not, Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter and secret service men pull into this driveway to pick up Amy. We had just gotten through smoking out on hash and we were all drinking beer. We were like trying to wave away this cloud of smoke and look at Jimmy who’s looking back at us lookin’ at him. As soon as Amy turned her back, Gibby jumped up and rubbed his dick all over her purse and suitcase. KING: The President of the United States’ finger was touching Gibby’s pubic hairs. Amy was pretty cool. She walked into the room wearing a Psychedelic Furs t-shirt. [longest sustained general laughter of the night] PAUL: We always wanted to do an interview with Amy Carter. KING: Supposedly she really wanted to see the Psychedelic Furs when they played this free outdoor show in Rockin’ Athens or somewhere, but it was too big of a security risk. so she saw the soundcheck and took off. FE: So does she wander around now in a Buttholes shirt? KING: I don’t think she has one. But supposedly she was kind of upset that she didn’t get introduced to us ’cause she knew who we were and had one of our records. She’s really into the Meatmen. FE: Tesco will dream of a video. KING: But her freinds shoved her out of the house as we totally filled the place with hash smoke. The secret service was all arond and we put her in the garage to wait ’til her parents showed up. FE: Where were you based in Georgia? GIBBY: Winterville. It’s right near Athens. · RAMONES MUSEUM BERLIN RAMONES MUSEUM BERLIN shares a story about the Ramones. There was a show at the Agora Ballroom April 8, 1983. “The daughter of former US President Jimmy Carter, Amy Carter, was a big Ramones fan, but at 15 years old too young to attend the show later that evening. The band invited her for an extra long soundcheck … Soon after, Amy was escorted out the venue by her security” The show was all ages. I might know, since I was there. The Agora had a balcony, where the approved alcohol consumers could get their legal drugs fix. · This is a repost from 2015. · Russell Lee took the photograph in October 1940. “Serving up the barbeque at the Pie Town, New Mexico, Fair” · He says surveillance video does show Yore shopping at the Pueblo store at 4080 West Northern Avenue on Friday, and going through a checkout line manned by a young cashier, but the truth stops there. · Walmart Supercenter #1001, 4080 W Northern Ave, Pueblo, CO 81005, is still open. · Walmart · Russell Lee took the featured photograph in October 1940. “Serving up the barbeque at the Pie Town NM, Fair.” · “Paige Yore” made a video which inspired many people. Others did some fact checking, and debunked the story. Russell Lee took the photograph in October 1940. “Serving up the barbeque at the Pie Town NM, Fair.” · Cringe, Game Changer, Era, Dropped, IYKYK (If You Know, You Know), Sorry Not Sorry, Skibidi, 100%, Utilize, Period · It wouldn’t be a new year without the Banished Words List from LSSU. The “winners” for this year: “Cringe, Game Changer, Era, Dropped, IYKYK (If You Know, You Know), Sorry Not Sorry, Skibidi, 100%, Utilize, Period.” · This is a repost from 2024, about an incident in 2018.. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The featured photograph was taken by Russell Lee in June 1941. “A little boy gets a shot (tick fever serum) at the clinic at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm labor camp. Caldwell ID” · $36.2t · seven years ago, I pointed out that a screen shot did not have a time and date, and might have been faked. I was called a white supremacist, and told to Examine. Your. Whiteness. The picture: “A little boy gets a shot (tick fever serum) at the clinic at the FSA farm labor camp. Caldwell ID” · Matthew 15:11 not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. · Awful Library Books retired in 2023. · “Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say “No” to Drugs” is today’s galloping tale. A filly learns about peer pressure, drinking and smoking drugs. Pictures today are from the GSU library. · William Morris Smith took the photograph in November 1865. “Arlington, Va. Band of 107th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Corcoran.” · Daphne Gray-Grant @pubcoach Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything. ~Ivana Trump, upon finishing her first novel #quotes · The late Ivana Trump is quoted as saying “Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything.” The closest verification I have found is the comment “Ivana Trump, upon finishing her first novel.” · Democrats have spent the last nine years promoting hatred of Donald J. Trump by calling him RACIST. His inauguration will be on MLK Day. · pictures for this January 6 collection are from The Library of Congress · Russell Lee took the featured photograph in March 1942. “Hamburger stand. Imperial County Fair, California” · selah
Sixty Dumb Quotes
This repost was originally published January 08, 2012. At that time, no one could have forseen the prophecy of quote number four. The idea that Donald Trump’s (seldom mentioned) first wife could have said “Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything” was marginally noteworthy in 2012. There is a saying, life is bad fiction. Donald J.Trump is an example.
· Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life. – Brooke Shields
· If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure. – Dan Quayle
· So, where’s the Cannes Film Festival being held this year? — Christina Aguilera
· Fiction writing is great. You can make up almost anything. – Ivana Trump
· I’m convinced the Beatles are partly responsible for the fall of Communism. – Milos Forman .
· When I’m a blonde, I can say the world is purple, and they’ll believe me because they weren’t listening to me. – Kylie Bax, Model/Actress.
· The internet is a great way to get on the net. – Bob Dole
· You guys, line up alphabetically by height. – Bill Peterson, football coach
· I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada. – Britney Spears
· I think war is a dangerous place. – George W. Bush
· I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father. – Greg Norman, Golfer
· It’s nice, it gives you a feeling of security so that if something breaks we know we can always call a guy over and he’ll bring a drill or something. – Brooke Shields
· Rotarians, be patriotic! Learn to shoot yourself. – Gyrator, Chicago Rotary Club journal
· These people haven’t seen the last of my face. If I go down, I’m going down standing up.
Chuck Person, NBA Basketball player
· I’m so smart now. Everyone’s always like ‘take your top off’. Sorry, NO! They always want to get that money shot. I’m not stupid. – Paris Hilton
· I think gay marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman
Arnold Schwarzenegger
· Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can’t help but cry.
· I mean I’d love to be skinny like that but not with all those flies and death and stuff.
Mariah Carey
· Predictions are difficult. Especially about the future. – Yogi Berra
· My sister’s expecting a baby, and I don’t know if I’m going to be an uncle or an aunt.
Chuck Nevitt, basketball player
· The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation’s history. I mean in this century’s history. But we all lived in this century. I didn’t live in this century. – Dan Quayle
· And now the sequence of events in no particular order. – Dan Rather
· Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods. – George W Bush
· The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing. – Dizzy Dean
· I was in a no-win situation, so I’m glad that I won rather than lost. – Frank Bruno, Boxer
· I have opinions of my own –strong opinions– but I don’t always agree with them. – George Bush
· I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever comes first. – George Rogers, NFL RB
· I do not like this word “bomb.” It is not a bomb. It is a device that is exploding.
Jacques le Blanc, French ambassador
· The word ‘genius’ isn’t applicable in football.
A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein. – Joe Theisman
· Half this game is ninety percent mental. – Danny Ozark, Philadelphia Phillies manager
· Be sure and put some of those neutrons on it.
Mike Smith, Baseball pitcher, ordering a salad at a restaurant.
· If I sold all my liabilities, I wouldn’t own anything. My wife’s a liability, my kids are liabilities, and I haven’t sold them. – Ted Turner
· They misunderestimated me. – George W Bush
· I don’t diet. I just don’t eat as much as I’d like to. – Linda Evangelista, Supermodel
· Facts are stupid things. – Ronald Reagan
· What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful.
How true that is. – Dan Quayle
· That’s just the tip of the ice cube. – Neil Hamilton, BBC2
· A bachelor’s life is no life for a single man. – Samuel Goldwyn
· I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid. – Terry Bradshaw, Former football player/announcer
· It isn’t pollution that is hurting the environment,
· It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. – Dan Quayle
· I’ve never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body. –
Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.
· The only happy artist is a dead artist, because only then you can’t change.
After I die, I’ll probably come back as a paintbrush. – Sylvestor Stallone
· Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.
Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC
· We are not ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur. – Dan Quayle
· Will the highways on the internet become more few? – George W Bush
· Traditionally, most of Australia’s imports come from overseas.
Keppel Enderbery, Former Australian cabinet minister
· There is certainly more in the future now than back in 1964. – Roger Daltrey
· We’re going to turn this team around 360 degrees. – Jason Kidd
· I’ve never really wanted to go to Japan. Simply because I don’t like eating fish.
· And I know that’s very popular out there in Africa. – Britney Spears
· Pitching is 80% of the game.
· The other half is hitting and fielding. – Mickey Rivers, baseball player
· I love California, I practically grew up in Phoenix. – Dan Quayle
· Put the ‘off’ button on. – George W. Bush
· So Carol, you’re a housewife and mother. And have you got any children? -Michael Barrymore
· Food is an important part of a balanced diet. – Fran Lebowitz, US writer
· We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need? – Lee Iacocca
· For NASA, space is still a high priority. – Dan Quayle
· He’s a guy who gets up at six o’clock in the morning regardless of what time it is.
Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer
· If it weren’t for electricity we’d all be watching television by candlelight. – George Gobel
· If only faces could talk… – Pat Summerall
· Every minute was more exciting than the next. – Linda Evans, actress
· I’m not anorexic. I’m from Texas. Are there people from Texas that are anorexic?
I’ve never heard of one. And that includes me. — Jessica Simpson
DISCLAIMER: The accuracy, legitimacy, and context, of these quotes is not known. They have not been verified. Quotes were originally published by 2Spare , a digital facility that advertises “Endless entertainment to spare”. I do not know where 2Spare got this content. 2Spare is for sale. Even though most of the quotes originated in English, the possibility of translation errors exists. The original title was “60 Dumbest Celebrity Quotes”. The use of the superlative is questionable, as is the celebrity status of Dan Quayle. Pictures are from The Library of Congress. William Morris Smith took the photograph in November 1865. “Arlington, Va. Band of 107th U.S. Colored Infantry at Fort Corcoran.”
LATAWNYA, the Naughty Horse
Today’s feature is a repost from 2014. … Awful library books is one of the actors in this drama. It is a good waste of your time. On top of the shelf today is Lee the Rabbit with Epilepsy. Other uplifting volumes on the front page include Isn’t One Wife Enough?: the Story of Mormon Polygamy and When Cavemen Go Bowling. Awful Library Books retired in 2023.
The book that Awful Library Books chose to “weed” was Latawnya, the Naughty Horse, Learns to Say “No” to Drugs. The links in the original post no longer work, so google was enlisted to find a replacement. Believe it or not, this galloping tale has a wikipedia page.
The original book was targeted at African American youth. The author has daughters named Latawnya and Chrystal. The author has sued amazon, wikipedia, and urban dictionary.
A possibly illegal reproduction is found using the link. One of the comments tells a cautionary tale: “It seems that many of these comments are viciously lampooning the work of a genius. I, however, see the visionary work of Mrs. Gibson. This insightful masterpiece presents the very real dangers of horse peer pressure. Just last week my daughter, Amber, was walking to school on a normal, idyllic day in suburbia. Then out of nowhere a Clydesdale galloped brazenly over to my precious princess and offered her a 40 oz bottle of Olde English 800 and a marijuana cigarette.”
Clydesdales have long been used to promote the products of the Anheuser-Busch company. (When you click on that link, a page pops up: WE NEED TO CHECK YOUR ID YOU MUST BE OF LEGAL DRINKING AGE TO ENTER THIS SITE) When I was younger, I worked on the mall maintenance crew at Northlake Mall. One day, the Budweiser Clydesdales made a visit. I was given a shovel and bucket, and told to walk behind the horses.
Courtesy of Awfullibrarybooks, we can see today “LATAWNYA, the Naughty Horse, Learns to say “No” to Drugs“. This uplifting story is about the afternoon when Latawnya goes out to play with her sisters Daisy and LaToya. Suddenly they meet four strange horses, Connie, Chrystal, Jackie, and Angie. They like to drink and smoke drugs.
The author of this tale was born in Mississippi, and lives in California. She says “Thank you, G-d”.
One of the reasons for the drug problem is drug education. Many of these programs, while well intentioned, make the problem worse.
In 1986, there was an oversupply of cocaine coming into America, and new ways of using the product were needed. Someone had the idea of making crack. The media did its part, by running scare stories about the new drug sensation. “One puff makes your head feel like it is exploding”. The stories had the combined effect of scaring parents, and making crack cocaine irresistible to certain people. Crack became a part of the life.
The first time I heard about oxycontin was a drug education flyer at work. It promised an overwhelming rush to the user who injected the substance. I imagined the reaction of some of the druggies he had known to this promise…where can I get some?
I am in the detoxed, old fogey stage of his life. Millions of others are not. When they read stories about horses who drink and smoke drugs, they learn to believe the opposite of what the drug educators tell them. Many will not live to be detoxed old fogeys. The pictures for this tale of drug-free stallions are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library
Indifferent Truth-Seeker Act
This is a repost from 2024, about an incident in 2018. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. The featured photograph was taken by Russell Lee in June 1941. “A little boy gets a shot (tick fever serum) at the clinic at the FSA (Farm Security Administration) farm labor camp. Caldwell ID” … A bit of dialog turned up in a 2018 facebook thread. “Arnold” “Luther I am genuinely curious about how it is you support white supremacist world views consistently, yet have always hung out in alternative spaces. Have you written about this?” Luther “Questioning the validity of a facebook post is not supporting a white supremacist world view.” “Stephen” “It absolutely is when you’ll accept no standard of evidence presented in support of the claim. No one here is fooled by your indifferent truth-seeker act.” This is not your daddy’s white supremacy.
On January 19, 2018, Wussy published Is the Owner of Popular Atlanta Drag Bar a Racist? A disgruntled employee shared a 2015 facebook screen shot. Palmer Marsh, the owner of Burkhart’s Pub, said “Obviously Vladimir Putin thinks that Barack Obama is a stupid (magic word). He just might be right.” The Atlanta queer community went into a pearl clutching frenzy.
I noticed that the screen shot did not have a date or time. I mentioned this detail, and was richly rewarded for my efforts. This is the “indifferent truth-seeker act” that supports “white supremacist world views.” Examine. Your. Whiteness. was one of the kinder suggestions.
This was seven years ago, and seems quaint today. In the last seven years, we have shut down the country over a virus, and had a racial reckoning. After electing a senile criminal to be President, we supported a gruesome war in Ukraine, facilitated a genocide in Gaza, and elected another senile criminal to be President. The national debt has gone from $20t to $36t. It is tough to believe we were once so concerned about a drunken old man saying a six letter word on facebook.
Twenty Three Thoughts
Twenty Three Thoughts was originally published January 23, 2009. … “23 skiddoo” is said to be the first national slang saying. It’s origin is is bit uncertain, making 23S with mythmakers. One story
involves a place on 23rd street in New York, with a lot of wind blowing about. The legend is that men would hang out on 23rd street, near the Flatiron building, to see the wind pick up ladies skirts. UrbanDictionary goes along with this story.
23 is a prime number. The only way to get it through multiplication is 23×1. However, using division, we see that 69/3 is 23. 69 sometimes refers to an act that involves two people. The concept of 69 divided by three is rather gruesome. · UrbanDictionary calls 23 the greatest number of all time. · 23 is an odd number. · Psalm 23 is one of the high points of the Bible. · 2 divided by 3 is .666 · 6+6+6+2+3=23 · The number 23 in the alphabet is W. If you can’t say anything good, say it about him. · Dr. Pepper is the combination of 23 flavors. 10+2+4 =16. If you add lucky 7, you get 23.
Willie Shakespeare was born April 23, 1564. He died April 23, 1616. · Samuel Morse sent the first telegraph message on May 24, 1844. “What hath God wrought” was from the Bible passage Numbers 23:23 · On January 23, 1973, Richard Nixon announced a peace accord for the Vietnam War.
On January 23, 1978, Terry Kath (Guitar player for the band Chicago) came home from a night of partying. He picked up a 9mm pistol, and held it to his head. He said, “ don’t worry, it’s not loaded.” He was mistaken, with fatal consequences. · Human DNA has 23 chromosomes. 23andMe can tell you more about where those 23 chromosomes came from.
23 enigma is one phrase for this vortex of coincidence. William S. Burroughs is credited by some for first noting the 23 enigma. “I first heard of the 23 enigma from William S Burroughs … According to Burroughs, he had known a certain Captain Clark, around 1960 in Tangier, who once bragged that he had been sailing 23 years without an accident. That very day, Clark’s ship had an accident that killed him and everybody else aboard. Furthermore, while Burroughs was thinking about this crude example of the irony of the gods that evening, a bulletin on the radio announced the crash of an airliner in Florida, USA. The pilot was another captain Clark and the flight was Flight 23.”
“Clyde Champion Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death by officers in an ambush near Sailes, Bienville Parish, Louisiana on May 23, 1934.” · The Library of Congress supplied the photographs illustrating this post. Russell Lee took the featured photograph in May 1942. “Japanese-Americans being evacuated from certain West coast areas under United States Army war emergency order, and waiting for transportation to the reception center. Salinas CA”
Skibidi
I usually am in bed by midnight, but last night made an exception. I had suffered brain damage earlier that night. After a major update on the computer, I discovered that WordPad had been eliminated. This is the program I use to create blog posts, lists, notes … essentially everything I write. For some bizarre reason, MS does not want me to use it. Fortunately, a bit of googling found a way to download a version, so I can proceed.
2024 is over, and good riddance. We suspect that 2025 will be worse. The thing to do now is take things one step at a time, and deal with things as they come up. There will be a first of everything. When I log onto X, I see my first tweet of 2025.
@jessesingal Coleman Hughes (This tweet has an embedded video of Mr. Hughes singing in front of a band.) @chamblee54 This is the first tweet I saw in 2025. @coldxman is possibly the person I lost the most respect for in 2024.
I have written two posts about Coleman Cruz Hughes. one two The tragedy in Gaza is now moving into the third year. Israel commits war crimes every day. Hasbara-mongers like Coleman Hughes play a key role in enabling this atrocity.
“Lake Superior State University Unveils 2025 Banished Words List.” It would not be a new year without a new BWL. I copy it, and process it. Ctrl+a, Ctrl+c, Ctrl+v. Once the raw verbiage is dumped onto a WordPad document, I take what I can use and send the rest to Elon. The end of this download has a strangely poetic phrase: “Budget and performance transparency reporting icon.”
2025 Banished Words List: “Cringe, Game Changer, Era, Dropped, IYKYK (If You Know, You Know), Sorry Not Sorry, Skibidi, 100%, Utilize, Period.”
“Skibidi” is the only Banished Word that I had never heard. It seems to have something to do with Skibidi Toilet, a cartoon series. A male head emerges from a commode, and makes noise. Fortunately, Urban Dictionary can make sense of “Skibidi.” · “Skibidi” is a word usually used to start a convo, specifically a convo filled with brain rot.” · “A word used by gamers who are on youtube shorts every day and are on a 3000 day streak of being virgin. This word is used when the gamer wants to be funny and trys to say someone elses joke louder than them.”
Walmart Suicide Video
This is a repost from 2015. … I was stumbling through facebook when I saw enthusiastic praise some. Against my better judgement, I clicked on the video. Within seconds, it was familiar.
Paige Yore (she wants you to know her name) made a video about an incident at Walmart. The video was shot in that annoying cell phone style, with a skinny image in the middle of a blank screen. In the story, Ms. Yore was at walmart, when a lady before her had a problem with a cashier. Ms. Yore intervenes, a unicorn army parades through the store, and all is well with the world.
It was just another inspirational video, until the lies got thick. “The young cashier stopped in his tracks and began crying. He came from the bagging area and began hugging Paige. He told her that his mother committed suicide that morning. He said he had to work because he has to pay rent and bills. “This woman is yelling at me and I don’t even have a mom anymore,” said the young man.” At this point, I realized it was a fraud.
Apparently, other people were not fooled. A local tv reporter did some checking. Walmart found a surveillance video of the incident. The lady did not hug the cashier, whose mother is still alive.
The perpetrator of this video is unrepentant. “I just want everyone to know that I am here to inspire people. I’m not here to cause any problems. I’m just a normal girl from Idaho, just another cow girl, and just happened to go viral. Did I plan on it? Absolutely not. Did I want that? Probably not.” In another comment thread she adds “I’m not bipolar and never been diagnosed.”
People, don’t believe everything you hear. If you want inspiration, look at the sky outside, and marvel that a creature that can see this exists. Don’t let people pull your chain all the time. Cynicism is ugly. But when you are lied to repeatedly, it is what is left. Pictures by The Library of Congress.
RIP Jimmy
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The motto of the state of Georgia is wisdom, justice, moderation. Some people say this works out as wisdom and justice in moderation. · State moderation should not be confused with online mods. · exp4-leiarcaica.bsky.social · @RichardHanania Getting all kinds of messages from Indians saying they appreciate me standing with them. Also getting many from rightists angry at my position. The ones from the Indians are all written in impeccable English. The ones written from “America First” types have spelling and grammatical mistakes that would embarrass a second grader. · So you’re a poet, hey? Well if you’re a poet Tell me a poem today Come on, let me know it · RIMER, n. A poet regarded with indifference or disesteem. · The rimer quenches his unheeded fires, The sound surceases and the sense expires. Then the domestic dog, to east and west, Expounds the passions burning in his breast. The rising moon o’er that enchanted land Pauses to hear and yearns to understand. Mowbray Myles · R.I.P. A careless abbreviation of requiescat in pace, attesting an indolent goodwill to the dead. According to the learned Dr. Drigge, however, the letters originally meant nothing more than reductus in pulvis. · this is my monday morning recap of last week. Pictures today are from a 2019 poem, “The Devil Was Wine” eternal unstirring paralysis, blemish that’s kind to our mortalities, tempestuous times like this analysis, ignominious ecclesiastes. Link in comments · ALEXANDER CHEE: Having written the The Joy of Gay Sex early in your career, would you add anything to it now? And are you aware of having trained any of your lovers who came to you after you wrote that book?WHITE: Well, The Joy of Gay Sex had to be revised. The second version [The New Joy of Gay Sex] was done [in 1993] by Felice Picano and Dr. Charles Silverstein, because of AIDS, to include safe sex and all that. I remember in my book States of Desire, I wrote about a Texas guy who would say, “I’m fixing to come,” when he was about to come. I thought that was so funny, I had to put it in. He was a good-looking, tall blonde with a big dick. I met him years later and he teased me about having written that about him. He met some guy I’d also written about in Los Angeles. He said they both were licking their wounds. · Edmund White: “I remember in my book States of Desire, I wrote about a Texas guy who would say, “I’m fixing to come,” when he was about to come. I thought that was so funny, I had to put it in. He was a good-looking, tall blonde with a big dick.” · I have a podcast series about Karen Silkwood on my phone. When I want to remove an episode after listening, the device asks “Are you sure you want to permanently delete “Silkwood05”? · In 2014, pre-x twitter had a #hashtag, #UnwieldyInsults. @MHanson62 “Hey, Excrement for Intelligence…” @steverand616 Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries Pictures from the GSU library Link in comments · The oil in my vehicle is old, and in need of replacement. That will provide plenty of chore for today, and make me forget that chore rhymes with whore …. i am in the middle of writing a fun blog post. I take six haiku reductions, and write something based on those seventeen syllables. The new twist is to make all of these commentaries exactly 100 words. I may have a few marbles left when this is done. · @tao_lin To all the unmerry people out there. The lonely, the disgruntled, the grumpy, the depressed, the spurned, the people in chronic pain, the severely autistic, and so on, I wish you a day—you do not need to be merry, you’ll make it through this Christmas, it’s almost over. · @Drabblecast @tao_lin · the politically incorrect haiku writing prompts continue to devolve. The latest twist is the introduction of the drabble, or a piece that is exactly 100 words. Unfortunately, the final word count today is 654, which is a dozen words short of satanic glory. @Drabblecast @tao_lin · during the fighting at Kennesaw Mountain on June 23, 1864, Bierce suffered a grievous head wound from a Confederate bullet. Hospitalized for months, he was back in action in September during the Franklin-Nashville campaign. Bouts of dizziness and frequent blackouts — the aftershocks of his wound — forced him to resign from the army on January 25, 1865. · ITAMA Institute of Traditional Asian Martial Arts (East Lansing, MI) · Scimitar is a bit of historic fiction from Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce. On June 23, 1864, Lt. Bierce “suffered a grievous head wound” while fighting in the Union army at Kennesaw Mountain. If this piece offends you, the blame should go to the ineffecient marksmanship of the Army of Tennessee. · scimitar is a bit of historic fiction from Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce. On June 23, 1864, Lt. Bierce “suffered a grievous head wound” while fighting in the Union army at Kennesaw Mountain. Despite having the middle name Gwinnett, Lt. Bierce was wounded in Cobb County. · This is borrowed from The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce. John Collier took the picture in August 1941. “FSA supervisor McArthur weighs in the Smart chickens (2 ½ lb.) prior to their shipment to the Craig Field, SE Air Training Center. Selma AL” · (1114) Simon Peter said to him, “Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.” Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.” … The Gospel According to Thomas · The Relive Box By T. Coraghessan Boyle March 10, 2014 · This is a repost from 2015. In the last nine years, Trans Awareness has mushroomed. Maybe the mushroom paradigm is the best way this discussion. The public is kept in the dark, and fed sh**. While Pronoun Consciousness (PC) has grown and festered, Singular They has not caught on as an alternative to the his/her nomenclature. The next nine years will no doubt see many changes in public gender awareness. Unscrupulous influence peddlers can be expected to exploit gender issues, with little regard for the collective mental health of the community. · “Singular They” is a repost of a feature from 2015, when gender discussions were starting to be fun. The picture, from the GSU library, is from 1951. The Big Apple is now the site of Metro PCS and Fader’s Barbershop. · lbse1-002a · pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library · selah
Chamblee54 
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