The Church Sign
This is a repost from 2013. On June 10, 2018, Briarcliff United Methodist Church held its final Sunday service. The building is currently used by The Globe Academy. Traffic on Briarcliff Road never changes. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.
Religion is very personal. When you have a miserable experience with Jesus, it will not go away because of glib expressions of “faith.” When you put a sign by the road, you don’t know who is going to see it. You don’t know how they are going to be feeling.
I was driving to dinner one night, when I drove by Briarcliff United Methodist Church. The facility is on a busy road. They have a sign in front, with a message that changes from time to time. This night, I was in a bad mood. I was thinking about people who have humiliated me for Jesus. The sign in front of BUMC said “When was the last time you prayed?”
The concept of prayer is collateral damage in my struggle with Jesus. As I became alienated from Jesus, the idea of a person talking to God appeared selfish and self aggrandizing. There is something about having an angry bully for Jesus snarling “I’m going to pray for you brother” that makes the concept of prayer repulsive.
There is another thing to consider here. Pushy Christians assume that they have the right to grill you about a sensitive personal issue. The idea of saying this to passing motorists is incredibly disrespectful. It is none of your business if I pray.
I looked up BUMC on the internet when I got home. They have a modern website. The top tab on the menu said “Prayer Requests.” This is for people who want someone to pray for them. Maybe you can leave a prayer non-request. Ask them to respect discomfort with their religion, and don’t put intrusive messages by the roadside.
Further down on the website is an email address (church@briarcliffumc.com.) While not expecting a miracle, I decided to send them an email. Here is the text of that message.
You have a message board in front of your church. The message when I went by was “When was the last time you prayed?” I was offended by this message.
I have had a tough time with religion. I have been humiliated many, many times because of Jesus. I have heard about your scheme for life after death thousands of times, and simply do not agree with it. An intrusive roadway sign is not going to change my mind.
My belief is that my opinions about God are none of your business. If I trust you, then we can have a discussion. Having a rude sign by the road side is not going to help me trust you.
Even though it is none of your business, I am going to answer your question. Even though I was talking to God, and not to you, I am going to repeat what I said. “God please help these people to have respect for their neighbor, and take that awful sign down”.
Battery
I took my brother to Walmart this afternoon. The car battery struggled, and I resolved to get it tested later. When I tried to go home, the vehicle would not start.
The first move was to call a wrecker, to come boost me off. This would mean a two hour wait, and $108.00. The next move was to ask a taxi to help me. They all refused. One lady drove me down to my car, in the parking garage, and when she saw what I wanted, drove off.
There was a man collecting shopping carts. He suggested I go upstairs, get a battery charger, and take it back when I was through. I decided to try getting a battery instead. Since I did not know what type of battery to get, I took a picture of the old battery. This turned out to be useless in the store.
The first battery had a anti-shoplifting tag. I went to customer service to pay, and have it taken off. Ahead of me in line was an argumentative man trying to return merchandise without a receipt. When I go to the line, a man said that I could not buy the battery, for some reason. I went back in the store, and got another one.
The battery had a core charge, which I could redeem for the old battery. I decided to install the new battery there. I took the old battery off, and learned that the new battery was too big for the vehicle. I went back in the store, and could not find one that looked like it would fit.
I decided to boost the old battery with the new battery, and go to the parts store. I called the wrecker company to cancel my service call. Since I was downstairs, with no cell phone reception, for most of the time, they might have already called, and gotten no answer.
When I got to the parts store, I asked to use the restroom. I wanted to wash my hands. The man took me in the back, past a maze of shelves and work benches, to a very, very basic bathroom. The lady who took my order went outside, and installed the second new battery. I took the first new battery back to Walmart, and got a refund. Pictures today from The Library of Congress.
What Ben Franklin Really Said
It is a popular line. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” The credit, or blame, for this gem is assigned to Ben Franklin. Did he really say it? What was he talking about?
The good news is that Mr. Franklin did say these words. (Here is the text.) What follows was written by a lawyer. Prepare to be confused.
“The words appear originally in a 1755 letter that Franklin is presumed to have written on behalf of the Pennsylvania Assembly to the colonial governor during the French and Indian War. The letter was a salvo in a power struggle between the governor and the Assembly over funding for security on the frontier, one in which the Assembly wished to tax the lands of the Penn family, which ruled Pennsylvania from afar, to raise money for defense against French and Indian attacks. The governor kept vetoing the Assembly’s efforts at the behest of the family, which had appointed him. So to start matters, Franklin was writing not as a subject being asked to cede his liberty to government, but in his capacity as a legislator being asked to renounce his power to tax lands notionally under his jurisdiction. In other words, the “essential liberty” to which Franklin referred was thus not what we would think of today as civil liberties but, rather, the right of self-governance of a legislature in the interests of collective security.”
Mr. Franklin was writing on behalf of legislators who wanted to assess a tax. The quote is used by tax hating conservatives. The modern conservative wants to send a hundred thousand troops to a conflict eight time zones away, and pay for it with tax cuts.
Another article tells much the same story, but with a couple of twists. There is a google gimmick that shows how often a quote is used. The BF quote was little known until the twentieth century.
The techcrunch article introduces a dandy word for the rampant misuse of quotes. The word is contextomy. This explanation is from Matthew McGlone of the University of Texas at Austin.
“‘Contextomy’ refers to the selective excerpting of words from their original linguistic context in a way that distorts the source’s intended meaning, a practice commonly referred to as ‘quoting out of context’. Contextomy is employed in contemporary mass media to promote products, defame public figures and misappropriate rhetoric. A contextomized quotation not only prompts audiences to form a false impression of the source’s intentions, but can contaminate subsequent interpretation of the quote when it is restored to its original context.”
The spell check suggestion for contextomy is contentment. This is a repost. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library.”
Outside Looking In
Outside Looking In is a 2019 novel by T.Coraghessan Boyle, usually known as TC. It is the story of Fitz Loney, a grad student at Harvard in 1962. He, and his wife Joanie, start attending “sessions” conducted by Tim Leary. The psycho-experimentation always has ups and downs. Soon, the Loneys, and their son Corey, spend an idyllic summer in Mexico, before moving back to cold Boston. Around this time, Dr. Leary finagles an estate in upstate New York. The Loneys move in.
Like other Boyle novels, utopia turns to shit. At the end of OLI, the Loneys are essentially separated, and Fitz has made a mess of his life. Since Fitz is a fictional character, we have no way of knowing what happened. Sometimes things are best left to the imagination.
The story is fun to read. Boyle is a master storyteller. Detail is pinned onto de-donkey. After about 250 pages, all you want to do is read more … even knowing that it would be over all too soon. If you apply your logical mind, you might find a few plot inconsistencies. That is for scholars and critics. If you just want to be entertained, OLI more than fills the bill.
OLI was the transition book for me during cataract surgery. When I got it from the library, I had scheduled the procedure. The first part, I read with the old eyes and glasses. Then, the right eye was de-cataracted. For an agonizing week, there was one renovated eye, with various levels of reading glasses. First, the left eye lens was covered with tape, then just ignored. It was with relief that the left eye was re-done, to match the right.
Finding the best reading glasses is a work in progress. Usually, 1.5x is a good fit, except for sitting at a table, where 2.5x seem to be best. There is work to be done here. You can make a lot of mistakes at the dollar store. The arrival of two matching eyes came at about the time when OLI started to catch fire.
Towards the end of OLI, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters came to call on Tim. In The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the bus goes to Millbrook, and finds out that Tim is on an important trip, and cannot be disturbed. That is more or less what happens in OLI, except some of the other players enjoy the Pranksters. A few pages before this, someone is talking about a new novel by Ken Kesey. Very few other novelists are mentioned in OLI. It seems a bit odd that the Leary devotees would be talking about Ken Kesey. This is one of the head scratchers in the plot.
The Library of Congress supplied the historic pictures today. This is a repost.
Be Kind To Your Enemy
Did Jesus say to “Love your enemy”? Some believe this, and do it. Some claim to believe this, and practice the opposite. There are others who claim to love their enemies, but you have to understand what they mean by it. It can be very confusing. This is a repost.
I went to a source for documentation. Oh, the blessed conjunction of copy/paste with public domain. When I entered enemy (singular) in the search engine, 100 verses came up. When the request was made plural (enemies), 237 entries popped up. The last mention of enemies is Revelation 11:12 “And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.” Loving your enemies does not include bringing them to heaven with you.There is also the star of the show.
Matthew 5:44 “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
There is scholarly debate about what Jesus did, or did not, say. The words available to modern man have been copied by hand, edited, translated, and interpreted. I do not know Aramaic from Alabama. Like anyone else, I can only read and listen, and think for myself.
In a sense it does not matter what Jesus “really” said. Christians are going to believe what they want to believe. More important, they are going to do what they want to do. As far as the difference between what Jesus “really” said, and what his believers say and do … they can explain.
What follows is a humble suggestion. Did the translators and scribes get it wrong? Maybe Jesus did not say to love your enemy. Maybe what Jesus said was to show kindness to everyone. This is a practice thing, rather than a belief thing.
It is not as much fun to be nice to someone, as it is to scream about life after death. Kindness does not need to be justified by a quote from a magic book. You just need to do it. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Opinion Essay
The display of a link on this page does not indicate approval of content.
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Why Israel Won’t Take the Win Plus: AI ‘suicide race.’ · Biden’s Taiwan blunder. …
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The American Economy Is Rigged And what we can do about it
Response to Recent Criticisms on New York Times Opinion Essay
BRIEF OF ALABAMA AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING STATE RESPONDENTS
When Paul McCartney gave his regards to Broad Street Miller’s Rexall Drugs owner …
A Jew, a Hindu and a Politician Went Hiking in Tennessee | Joke
70s Classic’ Is NOW ERASED From History…TV & Radio Won’t EVER PLAY It AGAIN!
dominick dunne · vivcastle · poop gun · kamala · halido meatery
2011 trump roast · gilbert gottfried · cardiology · comorbidity · perpetrate
screen blavckout · kim zolciak · lung nodules · Condé Nast’s Gaza · trump roast
Comedy Central did a Donald Trump roast. In this clip, Gilbert Gottfried asks him some questions that have somehow been overlooked. · @kendallybrown In 48 hours, Texas is going to execute an innocent disabled man for a crime that DID NOT EVEN HAPPEN. Robert Roberson’s 2 year old daughter died of pneumonia. But the state of Texas convicted her father of murdering her. Here’s what happened: · Get thou behind me Satan And turn down those high beams · Comedy Central did a Donald Trump roast in 2011. Gilbert Gottfried skewers him in this clip. It is far worse than the KKK jokes. · This is a repost from 2012. The electoral college continues to wreak havoc. Unfortunately, the “two party” system benefits from the EC, and changes are not made. The nauseating choice between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris may produce another popular vote/electoral college disagreement. · The 1941 image shown here is “McConnell’s Five and Dime Store, Watkins Building, Ponce de Leon Avenue (Decatur)” · This is a repost from 2012. David Van Cortlandt Crosby moved on to page 44 on January 18, 2023.. … · But Arnold Palmer was all man when I say that in all due respect to women and I love women. But this guy, this guy, this is a guy that was all man. This man was strong and tough and I refused to say it. But when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, oh my God, that’s unbelievable. I had to say it. · The Library of Congress · selah
The Velvet Warlocks
PG was listening to disgraceland episode#64, about the grateful dead. He was at a stopping point with multi tasking, and decided to look something up. The show mentioned the first show by the Warlocks, later known as the grateful dead. This was 50 years before “dead name” was a dirty word.
“On May 5, 1965 ‘The Warlocks’ … played their first show, at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park, California.” This was the day before I turned 11. Lyndon Johnson was settling in for his elected term as President. The Braves were playing their lame duck season in Milwaukee. Combat troops had been in Vietnam for a little over two months. This was the start of the escalation. “By the end of 1965, more than 184,000 American troops were in Vietnam.”
At 27:44, dg-gd dropped an item that could not be ignored. The Warlocks had to find a new name. Someone else was called the Warlocks, and there were complications. It seems as though the warlocks … a pretty obvious name … was also an early name of the Velvet Underground. Other early vu names included the primitives and the falling spikes.
“When they (vu) finally did come across a name which stuck, it was thanks to a contemporary paperback novel about the secret sexual underworld of the 1960s that Tony Conrad, a friend of John Cale, happened across and showed to the group. The novel, written by Michael Leigh, remains in print most likely thanks to the band which appropriated its title.”… “Had Lou Reed and John Cale not seen a copy of this book in a New York City gutter (fittingly) and decided to use its name for their group, this little volume would have been justly forgotten. Written in a style which titilates while decrying the scene it describes, it’s a piece of blue-nosed junk.”
The rest of the show rolled on. Jerry stuck his finger in a dictionary at random, and found Grateful Dead. It was the name of a story. The band played at the acid tests, which mostly went well, until they did not. Pigpen drank rotgut to excess, until it killed him.
PG was editing pictures out of a folder labeled pa41. The images were shot by John Vachon,in June 1941. The last picture, while the 27 club end of Pigpen played over the speakers, was Women washing clothes in utility building at FSA (Farm Security Administration) trailer camp. Erie, Pennsylvania. Another picture, from January 1941, is Pinochle game in Czecho-Slovak Dramatic Club. Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Both pictures are included in this feature. This is a repost from 2020.
Dick Nixon TV Critic
The text below is a conversation between Mr. Nixon, John D. Ehrlichman, and H. R. Haldeman. The tape was made May 13, 1971. This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
NIXON: … CBS … glorifying homosexuality.
EHRLICHMAN: A panel show?
H. R. HALDEMAN: No, it’s a regular show. It’s on every week. It’s usually just done in the guy’s home. It’s usually just that guy, who’s a hard hat.
NIXON: That’s right; he’s a hard hat.
EHRLICHMAN: He always looks like a slob.
NIXON: Looks like Jackie Gleason.
HALDEMAN: He has this hippie son-in-law, and usually the general trend is to downgrade him and upgrade the son-in-law–make the square hard hat out to be bad. But a few weeks ago, they had one in which the guy, the son-in-law, wrote a letter to you, President Nixon, to raise hell about something. And the guy said, “You will not write that letter from my home!” Then said, “I’m going to write President Nixon,” took off all those sloppy clothes, shaved, and went to his desk and got ready to write his letter to President Nixon. And apparently it was a good episode.
EHRLICHMAN: What’s it called?
NIXON: “Archie’s Guys.” Archie is sitting here with his hippie son-in-law, married to the screwball daughter. The son-in-law apparently goes both ways. This guy. He’s obviously queer–wears an ascot–but not offensively so. Very clever. Uses nice language. Shows pictures of his parents. And so Arch goes down to the bar. Sees his best friend, who used to play professional football. Virile, strong, this and that. Then the fairy comes into the bar. I don’t mind the homosexuality. I understand it. Nevertheless, goddamn, I don’t think you glorify it on public television, homosexuality, even more than you glorify whores. We all know we have weaknesses. But, goddammit, what do you think that does to kids? You know what happened to the Greeks! Homosexuality destroyed them. Sure, Aristotle was a homo. We all know that. So was Socrates.
EHRLICHMAN: But he never had the influence television had.
NIXON: You know what happened to the Romans? The last six Roman emperors were fags. Neither in a public way. You know what happened to the popes? They were layin’ the nuns; that’s been goin’ on for years, centuries. But the Catholic Church went to hell three or four centuries ago. It was homosexual, and it had to be cleaned out. That’s what’s happened to Britain. It happened earlier to France. Let’s look at the strong societies. The Russians. Goddamn, they root ’em out. They don’t let ’em around at all. I don’t know what they do with them. Look at this country. You think the Russians allow dope? Homosexuality, dope, immorality, are the enemies of strong societies. That’s why the Communists and left-wingers are clinging to one another. They’re trying to destroy us. I know Moynihan will disagree with this, and Mitchell will. But, goddamn, we have to stand up to this.
EHRLICHMAN: It’s fatal liberality.
NIXON: Huh?
EHRLICHMAN: It’s fatal liberality. And with its use on television, it has such leverage.
NIXON: You know what’s happened [in northern California]?
EHRLICHMAN: San Francisco has just gone clear over.
NIXON: But it’s not just the ratty part of town. The upper class in San Francisco is that way. The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time–it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine, with that San Francisco crowd. I can’t shake hands with anybody from San Francisco. … Decorators. They got to do something. But we don’t have to glorify it. You know one of the reasons fashions have made women look so terrible is because the designers hate women. Designers taking it out on the women. Now they’re trying to get some more sexy things coming on again.
EHRLICHMAN: Hot pants.
NIXON: Jesus Christ.
Third Friday
humanesque highway · foghorn foggy stomping boots · forgot bio this!
Friday morning, before halloween, is a day for more doctors, less peace of mind, the anticipation of another election from hell, the sure knowledge that the end of humanity is in the greedy insane fingers of pyrocrats that you have no control over, but do have a good excuse for their horrid behavior.
NEVER too old · weird do NOT share your bank account · meds not the fun kind!
NEVER is a word that should always be in all caps. NEVER is a warning, and message that some things should not be done if you value your life, or anything else. NEVER is an absolute, and absolutes have a way of being violated as a sign of suicidal resistance.
ANAL JIM CROW VIEW · nonsense PRIDE PARADE? ONLY · AMERICA true!!!
Jumping Jim Crow always looked at things from the end. A minstrel show was a nonsense pride parade, even if seldom trending on twitter or in the queue on youtube. Only in America.
psychoanal art · never mating if you don’t · hear the dead knowledge
All true art originates in the anal sphincter. Like opinions emerging from the bowels of reality, fueled by the junk food beliefs of the elders, art is highly anagrammic. art atr rat rta tar tra. trl la la la la on the trolley, clang clang clang
look people trauma · organ procrastination · 12 week willpower
Anyone can have 12 week willpower, even if you put it off. Little trauma is required, especially if you use a piano instead of an organ. Looking at people trauma is not always in good taste, especially if you get caught too often.
beautiful nothing · race creed inebriation · yellow salvation
Waffle House is what Waffle House is. The bright yellow beacon at the long end of a Georgia night, where the hash browns, and the people, are always scattered and smothered. If you go down Peachtree, and take a right at the Waffle House, you get to the Big Chicken.
Page 43
This is a repost from 2012. David Van Cortlandt Crosby moved on to page 44 on January 18, 2023. … David Crosby gave a show. 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
Snopes has a piece about Page 43. It seems that some people think the song title refers to a page in the Old Testament. I think Page 43 was chosen because it rhymes with “it’s got to be.” There was a spot in the song for those four beats.
To pad out this post a bit, a visit to page 43 of the Old Testament will be made. My parents gave me this Bible on my eighth birthday. 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.”
The wine drinking in verse 3 does not work for everyone. 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 harvest in reserve, life will run over you, while it is passing you by.
Oscar Wilde
October 16 is Oscar Fingal O’Fflahertie Wills 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 birthday celebration is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress.
One night in 1974, I was talking to someone, and did not know who Oscar Wilde was. The conversational partner was horrified. I quickly got 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 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 Columbus, 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.
Electoral College
This is a repost from 2012. The electoral college continues to wreak havoc. Unfortunately, the “two party” system benifits from the EC, and changes are not made. The nauseating choice between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris may produce yet another popular vote/electoral college disagreement.
The electoral college method of electing the President is broken, and needs to be fixed. This problem has been around since the constitution was written. It hurt America badly in 2000, when the man who won the popular vote was denied the Presidency on a technicality.
There have been few calls for electoral reform since the 2000 election, even from the Democrats who were robbed. It is almost as if the two parties don’t really compete, but pretend to fight each other, knowing that soon it will be the other guys turn to rule. The thieves who run our political system are used to playing the electoral college game, and would have to have an honest election if the race was decided by popular vote.
In Alabama, it is known that the Republicans will get the states votes. If you vote for a democrat, your vote in Alabama won’t make a difference in Ohio. The electoral college system takes the Presidential vote away from Alabama citizens.
The reform of this system does not have to be complicated. The constitution calls for the voters to select electors, who will vote on the President. The winner-take-all plan is a perversion of the original plan. The customs can be changed just as easily, probably without a constitutional amendment.
Here is a plan. Elect one elector for each congressional district. Give each state two electors based on the statewide vote. There will be districts where one party always wins, and that is regretable. There will probably be fewer people disenfranchised this way that under the present system of state by state, winner takes all. Pictures today are from Georgia State University Library.
Chamblee54 
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