Al Pieda
These days, PG is up at 5:30 am., He hits the road at 7:45. On this Thursday, he was downloading files from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. Some of their fine images accompany this report. While his eyes and fingers were busy, his ears were listening to Glenn Loury and John McWhorter, a.k.a. the black guys on Bloggingheads.tv.
The problem with multi tasking with tbgobh is when you hear something that requires a sound clip. You have to interrupt your downloading to create a dingalink. Doctors Loury and McWhorter like to talk about the quandary of being a proud black man, and what role to let it play in your life. To them, many people are more concerned about their race than they are other parts of life, to their detriment. Not everyone is pleased by what they have to say.
PG has mixed feelings. He doesn’t think much about things in terms of being a white person. Is this the way it is, or is it white privilege? Life can be confusing.
At some point, the conversation turned to Wayne Williams. He was convicted of killing two of the missing and murdered children in 1982. PG had heard, somewhere, that DNA testing was going to be done on Mr. Williams. Then nothing more was heard. What would Mr. Google say about this? It seems as though DNA testing “strengthens” the case against Mr. Williams.
This is part of the problem of working on the internet. You have access to amazing collections. You are also tempted every minute. There are millions of ways to kill time online. If you don’t stay focused, you will never get very much done.
After the Wayne Williams search… or maybe before … PG thought of a conversation he had the day before. Someone said that Ann Coulter had been attacked onstage, and her body guards pulled the attackers away. There were supposed to be videos available.
A youtube search of “Ann Coulter attacked” brought up the embedded video. This was the work of Al Pieda. “… an international terrorist group consisting entirely of pastry chefs. The organization consists of clandestine cells known as “bakeries,” which are believed to operate mostly within Estonia, Albania, and the less-interesting parts of Iowa but mostly in the Wigan area. Al Pieda has claimed responsibility for several heinous crimes, including the assassination of Betty Crocker in 1996,”
The War On Christmas
Merry Christmas used to be a greeting of good will. It meant, I am happy that you survived the year, have a nice holiday. It was not an in your face gesture, designed to express a religious opinion.
Christmas used to be a time of peace on earth and good will towards men. There were parties, gift giving, and holiday time from school and work. The religious part has always been there, but if you wanted to ignore it you could.
Now, the Jesus Worshipers want it all. The fact that our culture is dominated by Jesus worship is not good enough, they want it all. And they don’t care if it offends you. Peace on earth, and good will towards men, is an obsolete concept.
We don’t know when Jesus was born. Some scholars say he was born in the spring, but it was a long, long time ago. When the early Christians were trying to convert the Romans, they decided to have a birthday celebration for Jesus at the time of a pagan holiday. It is the winter solstice, the time of renewal at the end of the year. It is an ideal time for a religious feast.
Many people, PG included, have been hurt by Jesus. Christianism is an aggressive religion, and if you don’t agree, you can expect to be insulted and humiliated. As society becomes more and more secular, the Jesus worshipers get more aggressive. Many people have come to see the birth of Jesus as something to be mourned, rather than celebrated.
PG used to enjoy saying Merry Christmas. To him, it was a greeting of good will. Now, it is taking sides in a nasty fight. Maybe the proper thing to say is have a nice day.
And now for something completely different. PG found this recently, and it is not original to him. If you really need a link to the original, we will look harder.
When I was young and impressionable, I heard the Co-Adjutor Archbishop of Bombay preach on the subject of Christmas. He made the point that the adjective “merry” actually means “to be showing the influence of alcohol”, that is to be at least partially drunk. So to wish someone a Merry Christmas is really to wish them a Drunken Christmas.
And he went on to point out that as drunkenness is a sin, and moreover it is illegal to ply an infant with alcohol, a “merry Christmas” not only treats the birth of Christ as an occasion for sin, it also excludes the guest of honour Himself from the celebration.
That is a perversion of the meaning of Christmas — yet how often do we hear “true Christians” insist on saying “merry Christmas”? Why don’t they just wish the world happiness and joy?
This holiday feature is a repost. The pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Santa Claus Is A Woman
This is a collection of facebook comments. Some of them were posted. Some were not. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ The 2010 California rebellion could not have taken place in a state covered by the Voting Rights Act. ~ When I first saw that, I thought you said Impeach Nancy Reagan. ~ Georgia has open primaries. You can vote in the one you want to. In the runoff, you must vote in the same party party ballot that you chose in the first election. In 1966, Republicans helped Lester Maddox get the Democratic nomination for Governor. The same party rule was enacted after that election. ~ There is usually more action in the Republican primary. ~ In 2006, Ralph Reed was running for Lt. Governor. I thought he needed to spend more time with his family, and voted in the Republican primary. This was the year when Hank Johnson ran against Cynthia McKinney. As much as I wanted to help Mr. Johnson in the runoff, I had voted in the Republican primary, and could not participate in the Democrat runoff. ~ You might also want to follow:@LAYS The perfectly crispy chip that has been America’s favorite snack for 75 years. ~ Don’t watch this on your smart phone while driving ~ In what missions did U last serve? ~ Is that a threat, or an existential threat? ~ I’m going to pray for you ~ Defriending someone. It is not a word or phrase, but an action. It is almost always done without any interaction with the person being defriended. ~ a muse or a mess? ~ a smear campaign might be fun, but would also make you look bad ~ Didn’t you try that with a hammer one time? ~ Patsy Cline is the music for a pretzel commercial. That is wrong. ~ that’s mister dammit show some respect for your elders ~ Did she kill her ski instructor? ~ why are globes always displayed with the northern hemisphere on top? if you are in space you are just as likely to see it with the south on top. ~ I haven’t seen a seven digit phone number in quite a while ~ And we are better? Our government, which we support with our taxes, is murdering these people with high tech weapons ~ There are 2,830,000,000 results for “are you the same in real life as you are on facebook” ~ Only if Rudolph is the daddy. ~ I have never figured out when you cease being the child of people and your own person. Some people never do. Everyone has their own way of dealing with this. I only know the path I have taken, and continue to take. It is fun to read about others. ~ Maybe you should put them in the trash. Our sewers are overworked as it is. The thought is cool, but the application is flawed. ~ has anyone clicked on the headphones expecting a video to start? ~ I hope those bedsheets are bulletproof. ~ This sounds like some of these self loathing white liberals who carry on about racism. ~ Leon Russell was the arranger. ~ One nit picky point. The first name of Mr. Gandhi was Mohandas. Mahatma is a title for Indian royalty. The use of this title to describe Mr. Gandhi is not appropriate. ~ I don’t know anything about working with wikipedia. I suspect that it might be more trouble than I care to deal with. I find it ironic that you list Mother Theresa one notch above Christopher Hitchens. ~ Band I was given: The White Stripes Do I like them: no Seen them?: no Favorite song: Jolene I had never heard of the White Stripes before receiving this challenge. I found a you tube video of a live performance. I did not enjoy it. After fifty minutes, I turned it off, and put Joni Mitchell on. ~ Many Atlanta neighborhoods are full of trees. Just find a place with little traffic near your residence, and go. When biking in Brookhaven I often feel like I am living in a resort. If you can drive for a few minutes, the Chattahoochee river is lined with fabulous parks. ~ This is disgusting. To say that the qualification for queerness is to buy a t shirt. ~ Those drawings did not include a parking lot. ~ Do you ride the artist and martyr bus? ~ A tree cannot say what a forest looks like. Of course, if the forest is empty, the talking tree would not make a sound. If a tree falls in an empty forest, does the chainsaw make a sound? ~ He probably does not snore ~ What is it about white privilege that makes people write so badly? The piece Mouse linked to is horrible. This is true of most posts about race and privilege that I see. If you want to educate the public, you should first educate yourself about how to write. ~ The second to the right is probably very popular ~ Comodify is a great word. Pronounce one way and you turn something into a commodity. Pronounce the second vowel another way, and you convert the subject into a commode. ~ @BretEastonEllis Listen to #kaynewest talk wonder how much I want to hear 13 minutes in he says occupation is creative genius ~ wouldn’t that be the labor department? ~ Firefox has issues. I installed a new version the other day. It was loaded with flaky extras, which are basically glorified viruses. If you are not very careful with your installation you will get one in your system. No matter how many times you delete it, it keeps coming back. Firefox used to be a great program, but it has gone over to the dark side. ~ The area around the new braves stadium is in transition. There was a proposal recently to buy out and tear down a bunch of apartments on nearby Franklin Road. If the Braves think they are getting away from black people, they need to take a closer look at their new home neighborhood. ~ Are you sure it was not his face? ~ Cher had her first hit song in 1965. And she looks much better than these “newcomers.” ~ The first time I heard of Kayne was when he pulled his stunt at an awards show. I have heard little of his all caps music. Recently, I listened to the first thirteen minutes of a podcast with Kanye. He said he lists his occupation as being a creative genius. I stopped listening. ~ what if plymouth rock had landed on the mayflower? ~ another bit of caucasian semantics bites the dust ~ is the water safe to drink? does the ninth most dangerous business apply there too? ~ most internet tests have multiple choice answers, where you frequently choose the least bad answer. happy gobble day ~ Many Christians like to be forgiven much more than they like to forgive. ~ Thank you for reminding me about this. My favorite was #27 alligator. ~ This is going to be a classic. Three hours of the band tuning up between songs. ~ Why do you say it is a Hungarian stew? That is ghoulish, not ghoulash. ~ I wonder how many of the people mourning Nelson Mandela own diamonds. They come from South Africa. The mine owners were a part of apartheid. ~ The Domesticities would be a good name for a horror movie or web hosting service. ~ There are similarities between all three. ~ If you want to borrow some text, the King James version is public domain ~ With all due respect to Mr. Mandela, I have always wondered how he became the only anti apartheid leader that seemed to matter in the west. I am sure that he had rivals in that movement who did not appreciate him. ~ Who ran the movement when Mr. Mandela was in prison? ~ saturday haiku ~ feline canine ursuline ~ animal pundit ~ I had a customer once on the second floor. The building had no elevator. Their jobs usually involved a dozen or so heavy boxes. It was a few steps from the parking spot to the stairs, and a few steps from there to the office. In other words, a hand truck was useless. I would lug the boxes up to the office, they would find a mistake in the job, and I would have to go back and get the job when it was returned. One day, in front of a Catholic church, one of the box tops fell off, and hundreds of pages from a job went all over the road. The company eventually went out of business. They owed my employers a great deal of money when this happened. ~ How about our weather for their money? ~ Do you have a link? Or was this a rhetorical question? If the former, I would like to see it. I can take it, and write some text to go between the pictures. If the latter, I can click “like” and be done with it. If this test is about racial attitudes, and points out possible racists for community opprobrium, the I am not sure what course of action I want to take. ~ I would have respected @fieldnegro more if he ignored #megynkelly ~ This article is pathetic, so unprofessional, looks like it was written by a madonna fan or something. ~ Selah
Mithras Is Born
Until 2009, PG had never heard of Mithras.
Mithras is a Persian deity, from the Zoroaster tradition.(That is pronounced Zor uh THRUS ta.) Not much is known about Mithras … did he really exist, or was he a legend? There was a cult of Mithras in the first century Roman empire.
There are supposed to be similarities between Mithras and Jesus. These include the virgin birth, the birth on December 25, and rising from the dead after three days. Some spoilsports say the early christians grafted Jesus onto the legend of Mithras.
One indication that this might be true is The Catholic Encyclopedia. “Some apparent similarities exist; but … it is quite probable that Mithraism was the borrower from Christianity.”
This is a repost. Pictures from The Library of Congress .
Judy Roasting On An Open Fire
SFFILK (Not his real name) passes along a story about Mel Torme. It seems like Mr.Torme was eating a leisurely breakfast at a food court in Los Angeles, and a quartet appeared singing Christmas songs. They wound up performing “The Christmas Song” for co- author Torme…and the singers had no idea who he was. It is a good story, better told in the link. This is a repost.
According to the inerrant Wikipedia, Torme colloaborated with Robert Wells , until they had a falling out. One afternoon, on the hottest day of July in 1945, Mr.Torme went to visit Mr.Wells, and saw the first four lines of “The Christmas Song” (including “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose”). The lines were on a note pad, and the two agreed to beat the heat of summer by completing the song. Supposedly, Mr. Torme did not like the song very much. After three divorces, he probably didn’t see many of the royalties.
Mel Torme was the music director of the ill fated “Judy Garland Show” in the early sixties. He wrote a book about it… The Other Side of the Rainbow: With Judy Garland on the Dawn Patrol . The story is that Miss Garland would get blasted, call Mr. Torme in the middle of the night, and pour out her troubles. While the show did not last longer, there are some great youtube clips left over.
Personality Test
The instructions for some things are confusing. Maybe the true indicator of The iPersonic Personality Test. is whether or not you can decipher the instructions. The first time PG tried, he got it wrong.
TIPT has four parts. There are twenty statements in each part, in two groups of ten. One set of statements is the opposite of the other. An example would be “I often like to have a lot of people around me. ~ I need a lot of time alone.” For each of the four parts, you choose a block of statements.
When PG tried the first time, he thought you should click on which lines of each group applied to you. He noticed that when you select one line, and then select another line, the first line becomes unselected. Unless you use the control key, this is how computers work. There was not a box to check beside the individual lines. It was confusing.
The lines of the statements might make the foundation of a mashup poem. “i am not easily worked up ~ my idea of a holiday dream ~ is more than a solo trip to pup ~ perhaps a lonely island scheme.” PG copied all the test lines, and clicked one of the block boxes to get to the next page. Using this method, the test said “Social Realists are popular persons full of energy … have a marked social streak.”
The second time around, it began to sink in that you chose the group of statements, rather than the individual lines. Most people get this right away. Maybe there is a test taker personality type.
By this time, PG was getting tired of this test. He glanced over the sentences, rather than reading every one carefully. He looked at a few statements, and chose the best one. “Reliable Realists are down-to-earth and responsible-minded. They are precise, reserved and demanding. Their most prominent quality is reliability and they will always make every effort to keep any promise given.” Photographs today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Big Hair Melt Down
It was six am on tuesday morning. Many say that tuesday is worse than monday, but PG is not a statistician. He feels the urge to contribute to the collective wisdom, but does not have an original thought. It is time to look in the archives, and find something to repost. A feature with the lurid title “Big Hair” is on the list.
It seems as though BH was written for trifecta writing challenge. Evidently, PG has been contributing for a year now. This might be the first totally recycled entry. What can be said to melt the hearts and minds of those judging this week? A winning entry would make a nice holiday present.
This monday morning post is written in response to the Trifecta Writing Challenge. The mission for today: “This weekend we’re asking you to write 33 words that will make us laugh or smile. Even a chuckle will do. We look forward to the communal spirit lifting. Good luck!”
Before thinking of what to say, PG put the pictures together. They are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. The 33 words are about one of the pictures.
Buck Owens looked at the woman with big, black hair. She held onto her pocketbook with both hands. You don’t mean that. The man in the checkered suit looked ahead, but saw nothing.
German Pastry Christmas
PG got an email today from Allen Hunt a radio announcer. The letter had a Christmas message. PG read the story, and heard the ding ding ding of his BS detector. Here is the story.
Merry Christmas! As the wars about the public celebration of Christmas become filled with pettiness and hostility on all sides, be not dismayed. Your celebration of Christmas depends solely on you and nobody else. I heard the story of Oswald Goulter years ago and it reminds me of that simple fact. I am responsible for how I embrace the gift of Christmas.
Oswald Goulter served as an agri-missionary to China. On his way back to the USA for furlough during World War II. His sponsor mission agency gave him a ticket to get home by boat. When Oswald arrived in the port of India, New Delhi, he found boats filled with Jews, housed there to protect their lives from Nazi Germany. The Jewish boats couldn’t land anywhere. They were not accepted or welcome anywhere at the time
Oswald went to see them and said, “Merry Christmas!”
“We’re Jewish,” they responded.
“I know, I know. But what would you like for Christmas. Merry Christmas!”
“Don’t you understand? We are JEWISH.”
“Merry Christmas. What do you want?”
To get rid of this nuisance, they said, “How about some German pastry? That sure would be grand.”
Oswald scoured the city until he found a bakery that made German pastry. Oswald sold his ticket for home to get money to purchase some pastry. He went back to the boat and shared it with them.
As he spoke about this experience later in one of his supporting churches, a very prim member of the congregation stood and asked, “Why did you do that? They were Jewish. They don’t even believe in Jesus.””I know,” Oswald replied, “but I do.”
PG sent a reply to the original email. This post is being written an hour later, so it is not unreasonable that Mr. Hunt has not replied.
Allen do you have any proof that Oswald Goulter existed? This story seems a bit far fetched. I googled Oswald Goulter, and all I see is the same story told over and over.
Why did he go to India? This is over the Himalayan mountains, or around Vietnam. Couldn’t he do just as well in North Asia, or even Russia?
When did this incident happen? There are mixed indications in the versions I read, and no exact dates. If this was after WW2, then maybe the restrictions about admitting Jews would start to loosen up.
Why German pastries? After all that the German people had done to them, this seems a bit strange.
There are hundreds of real, verifiable Christmas stories out there. This one seems a bit fishy.
After sending the email, PG hunkered down in the google.(Snopes never heard of Oswald Goulter) It seems that Oswald John Goulter was born June 22, 1890 in Oklahoma. He died in March 1985, in Santa Clara California. He was interviewed in 1971 as part of a project involving missionaries to China. “This interview supplements the account of Goulter’s life in Wilfred Powell’s Scattered Seed. Mr. Goulter portrays the disruption in Chinese life in the area of Lu-chou (Hofei) in Anhwei province during the years 1922 to 1951. He tells how the Communists were able to take advantage of the disorder caused by warlords and bandits and the Japanese invasion to drive the nationalists from power. He also discusses his conception of practical Christianity and its applicability in China.”
There is another story about Mr. Goulter. After the communist takeover, Mr. Goulter and his wife, Irene, were taken into custody. Mr. Goulter was beaten repeatedly, but refused to renounce his faith. Finally he was released (or, in some versions, escaped). This imprisonment is generally agreed to for three years. If he left in 1951, that would be consistent with the time line of the communist takeover.
In the Hunt version of the story, Oswald Goulter left during World War 2.
This does not answer the question of why Mr. Goulter would go to India, before America. It also does not account for the appearance of the Jews in India, six years after the end of World War 2. It should also be noted that India was in chaos, with the advent of Independence and the partition. Would they have Jews hiding in the city?
There is a book, Scattered Seed: The Story of the Oswald Goulters, Missionaries in China 1922-51. PG does not know if it discusses German pastries.
This is a repost from four years ago. The original had several comments about Mr. Goulter, which we will share. Allen Hunt sent a reply, which was lost in a hard drive crash. It was rather snide. Dr. Hunt has quit sending PG emails. His radio show is no longer being broadcast.
Lindsay goulter said, on February 26, 2010 at 3:26 am Hi oswald goulter was my great uncle.Born in Auss. If you would like to know more about him please reply to my e/mail. lindsay g
Teena Anderson said, on October 30, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Oswald Goulter is my grandfather. He was a missionary to China for 30 years. His story is told in the book Scattered Seed by Wilfred Powell. Oswald and Irene had 3 daughters, Lovena, Doris ( who is still living!) and Jean. Doris and Jean were born in China. Jean was my mother-she spoke excellent chinese with a Hefei accent. I am the eldest grandchild. They lost a baby boy born in China and buried him in the mountains of Kuling, where the missionaries would go for the summer.
My husband, Hugh Anderson (Presbyterian minister) and I have taught in China with the Amity Foundation. Our first summer of teaching we traveled to Hefei and met Rev. Zhu who helped Oswald after he had been confined in the internment camps. They were great friends. Rev. Zhu’s son is now a Disciple of Christ minister here in the United States. Teena Anderson, Medford, Oregon.
chamblee54 said, on October 30, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Thanks for stopping by. Do you know if the story about the German Pastries was true? It is an inspiring story, but as I noted in my post, there are a few issues with it.
Miaohua Jiang said, on January 19, 2011 at 11:06 pm
The book by Wilfred E. Powell titled Scattered Seed came in mail yesterday. I searched in the book for any evidence that this story might actually happened. Unfortunately, the story as it is stated never happened. At least it did not happen in India.
The sabbatical year was between 1936 and 1937. The family did take the western route going through Europe to return to US. They arrived in US in September 1936. Christmas of 1936 was their first Christmas in US in many many years. They were not able to return to China because of Japenese invasion until late 1937. Mr. Goulter did help refugees in Shanghai around Christmas time 1937. The book did mention that Shanghai also had ships with Jewish refugees. So, the story could have happened in Shanghai, China, instead of India. It did not involve boat tickets. Mr. Goulter had clothings shipped from Los Angeles to Shanghai. Also Mr. Goulter was interned by Japenese for many years, not communists.
chamblee54 said, on January 20, 2011 at 12:02 am
Thank you for following through. That is an inspiring story, too bad it can’t be proven to be true.
Miaohua Jiang said, on January 1, 2011 at 10:13 pm
Doris is visting us this new year’s day of 2011!
Miaohua Jiang said, on January 4, 2011 at 2:23 pm
This is what I got from my conversation with Doris, O.J.’s second daughter. According to Doris, Mr. Goulter did not like his first name. Chinese people would simply call him Gou Shee-Sang (Mr. Gou). Doris was born in Hefei in 1924. Her mother homeschooled the girls. By the time she was 10, they felt it was time for girls to have a more formal education in Shanghai. Before they left for Shanghai, they travelled for a year to Europe, going through possibly the Hongkong – India route. So, it was around 1934 – a time Jews were forced to escape Germany. So, the story is credible. The girls stayed in Shanghai until 3 month before Pearl Harbor was attacked when American government ordered evacuation of women and children. Mr. Goulter stayed behind and was imprisoned by invading Japenese because of his British citizenship. I am ordering this book and hopefully when Doris visits again next time I will have a chance to verify a few more details with her. Amazingly, after leaving Hefei for more than 75 years, she can still speak the local dialect and sing local children songs forgotten even by the local people.
Teena Anderson said, on October 30, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Oswald Goulter was my grandfather. He was born in Australia. He heard about the Boxer rebellion and felt called to go to China. He came to the U. S. to get more education. He married Irene Goucher (my grandmother) in Oklahoma and they spent 30 years together in China. They had 3 daughters, 2 of whom were born in China. My mother was born in Tsingtao but spent 10 years in Hefei (Lu Chow Fu). She had a great Hefei accent. They also had a baby boy that died and was buried in the Kuling mountains. (Lu Shan)Oswald Goulters life was written by Wildfred Powell in the book Scattered Seed. Our family still have ties to Chinese that were ministered by my grandfather. There are many more accounts of what my grandfather accomplished in China. He loved the Chinese and they loved him. Teena Anderson of Medford, Or.
Lauri Penry said, on March 25, 2012 at 8:27 am
My grandparents (Dr. and Mrs. Paul R. Slater) served as medical missionaries in China with the Goulters. I have heard the story many times of how my grandfather met up with Mr. Goulter, and he wasn’t wearing shoes. So my grandfather gave him his. The next time they crossed each other’s paths, Mr. Goulter was again without shoes. He told my grandfather that he found someone who needed them more than he did.
I was just going through some pictures at my parents’ house this weekend, and found one with Mr. Goulter in it. I am in the process of reading Scattered Seed now. My parents were attending Phillips University when Mr. Goulter was a member of the faculty. From what I have always heard about this man, he was exceptional, and a true servant!
John McBride said, on May 10, 2012 at 10:10 am
Oswald Goulter is my grand uncle and he was born in Australia. I had the pleasure of meeting him and Irene in in either 1973/4 when they visited Australia and later in San Jose in 1981. He was quite some bloke who’s achievements were quite incrediable. My grand father was a potato farmer at a place called Irrewillipe, about 100 miles west of Melbourne. One year my brother and I spent our Easter weekend (4 days in Australia) helping dig up the crop. At night, my grandfather read Oswald’s letters to us by kerosene lamp beside the wood stove in the kitchen. As a ten year old, those letters were more exciting to listen to than reading my Superman comics.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
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