Chamblee54

The comments below are borrowed from facebook. It should be noted that PG does not agree with all of these observations. Pictures are from  ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. //1.// I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.//2.// Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.//3.// I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.//4.// There is great need for a sarcasm font.//5.// How the h#ll are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?//6.// Was learning cursive really necessary?//7.// Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5.// I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.//8.// Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the Person died.//9.// I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.//10.// Bad decisions make good stories.//11.// You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.// 12.// Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blu Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.again.//13.// I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.//14.// “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this – ever.//15.// I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello?// Hello?// D@mn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice mail. What did you do after I didn’t answer?Drop the phone and run away?//16.// I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.// 17.// I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.//18.// I think the freezer deserves a light as well.//19.// I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.//20.// I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.//21.// Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.//22.// I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.//23.// The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.// 24.// I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.//25.// How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?//26.// I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front.// 27.// Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.//28.// Is it just me or do high school kids get dumber & dumber every year?// 29.// There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.//30.// As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.//31.// Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.//32.// Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my @$$ everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

The appropriately named Dangerous Minds has a link to a story. The story begins with a normal kid exposed to the underground press of 1967.
It took PG until 1968. PG was a subfreshman (subbie) at Cross Keys High School. One day, he had a stye in his eye, and realized he could get out of school if he had a doctors appointment. There was an eye doctor working in Rich’s at Lenox Square, and PG walked over there to see him.
By this time, the stye was fading, but any excuse to get out of school is a good one. The doctor gave him an ointment to put in the eye, and the standard instructions. PG was then let loose on Lenox Square. It was an open air mall, with a bowling alley and grocery store. There were concrete statues of Uncle Remus characters on display, and two doors were kept locked in the restrooms downstairs beside Davisons. When the mall first opened, those rooms were “colored men” and “colored women”.
There was a bearded man on the courtyard, with a stack of newspapers. PG asked what it was, and the bearded man said it was mostly politics. PG gave the man fifteen cents, and got a copy of “The Great Speckled Bird”. He was warned not to get caught with this at school.
“The Bird” was roughly 16 pages of tabloid sized newsprint. There were two things about that first issue that PG remembers today. There was a story about a man who had been in ‘Nam. He was proud to be the first Marine to piss in the latrine at Da Nang.
There was also a crude drawing of a naked woman. An arrow pointed to the vagina, with a caption…” pussy- good for screwing and or babies”. The Bird was not known for subtle sophistication.
The Great Speckled Bird stuck around for a few years. In the 1968 election, someone printed a “greatest hits” edition, and distributed it to houses in Dekalb (spell check suggestions:Denial, Dermal, Decal) County, with the headline ” New Era prints hippie smut sheet”. Evidently, the same printer who did the county legal organ printed the Bird, and some politician thought he could score points with the voters. The cartoon of the naked woman, from that first issue PG bought, was included.
Pictures for today’s feature are from The Library of Congress.

This must be a slow news week. The raging controversy is whether the Republican Candidate for the Senate would have voted for a bill, that was passed when he was one year old.
As you probably know by know, Rand Paul ( born in 1963) was harassed this week by Rachel Maddow ( born in 1973) about the Civil Rights Act ( passed in 1964).
For some reason, Miss Maddow (spell check suggestions: Maddox, Madden, Madder) is determined to find out how Mr. Paul feels about a law that most of us accept without thinking. To his discredit, when asked a yes/no question, Mr. Paul says something other than yes/no.

Did anyone know that Rand Paul announced his candidacy for the Senate on the Rachel Maddow show? The video is embedded above. Could it be that Rachel Maddow is secretly working to help the Rand Paul campaign? The shows this week have gotten Mr. Paul tons of publicity. Is it really going to hurt Mr. Paul that a short haired media woman grills him about civil rights for black people?

The other part of the story is whether Rand Paul is named for Ayn Rand. A few clever youtube titles have come out of this, and it gives name recognition to the Paul campaign…it’s all good.
Randal Howard Paul used to be called Randy, until his wife got him to drop the y. While he does admire Ayn Rand, and his father may have met the former Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum, there is no connection between the two names.
Rand Paul is not the most handsomest person in politics, but he does not look like a typewriter. The story on Ayn Rand is that she got her pen name from a Remington Rand typewriter.
Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. Included are two images of Herman Talmadge (spell check suggestions:Talmud.Talisman), who did not vote for the Civil Rights Act.

The story below is the result of the misuse of a writing exercise. It is a work of fiction. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The body lay festering beneath the wrinkled bed sheet. Aldo killed Gnarlene in a fit of anger, but did not count on disposing of the body. The killers of TV never worried about such details, so Aldo did not think it important. The blood stains clashed with the decor of the room, he realized as the mop gently glided over the floor. The next time he does this, more advance planning will make the cleanup easier.
The perfume bottle on the vanity was the final straw, that led to the murder. Gnarlene knew good and well that the perfume bottle looked like the mouthwash bottle, and that Aldo sometimes brushed his teeth before he put his glasses on. When he gargled “Frenchwhore”, it burned his throat, and revenge was imminent.
Before he ran away, Aldo was careful to hide the murder weapon. The lamp had never matched the rest of the living room furniture, and the shade had a picture of the Three Stooges. Aldo was appalled, but Gnarlene had gotten a good deal on that lamp, and was proud of it. The base was a recycled cocola bottle, the thick deposit kind. When Aldo smashed Gnarlene over the head with it, the game was over.
On the first day of spring, the letter of testamentary came back from the county. Aldo made sure the will was updated at every turn, and made sure that Gnarlene left all her money to him. The only reason he married her was the family fortune. Gnarlene’s father, Protrudemous, made a fortune during the last war. He sold entry visa’s to Afghans who wanted to come to America, only to have them labeled as terrorists and held in prison until they died.
Eating lunch on Monday after the last insurance policy had paid off, Aldo started to choke. The snake charmer at the circus was in the next booth at McDonald’s, but did not lift a finger to help him. He had been Gnarlene’s secret lover, and was upset that Aldo chose murder over divorce.
A flash of lightning signaled the next phase of this unseemly tale. The withered toy rocking horse blew up in the next booth at McDonald’s, killing both Aldo and the snake charmer instantly. When the stray cat came, looking for the snake charmer to feed him, the cat was disappointed and hungry.

The following tidbits came from a lady who likes to do a Happy Dance. At least that what she says…what people say and what people do are often two very different things. The good news is, this is the internet, and what she does is unlikely to affect PG, so he can focus on what she says. There will be some counter comments from PG scattered throughout, designated by a method which has not revealed itself yet.
Smiling does not necessarily solve a problem, but it brightens the path toward a solution.//Never take for granted the time I have to spend with the people I love.//Chocolate… * Drool * (Refer back to Life Lesson #1.)//Not everybody will like me. It doesn’t mean I need to dislike them in return.//Qué será será. (Doris Day was very very different in real life from the characters she played.)// Barbie? Sucks. (That’s not what Ken says.)//Prayers are heard and answered.(NOT)//In the “race of life” there will be times I that I fall. Falling is okay, staying on the ground is not.//Thirty sparklers and a match should never, under any circumstance, be left to my care. Ever.//Never say the phrase, “Things couldn’t be worse.”They can.// Anything worth attaining truly does take work. Lots of it.//And plenty of faith.( It is a shame that once people decided that religion was a dirty word, they started to use faith as a substitute. Now faith is about to become a dirty word, which is a shame. Faith in yourself is essential, no matter what some say. Faith in G-d can come in mighty handy. Faith in trite sayings is begging to be disappointed.)//“The flame shall not hurt thee/I only design thy dross to consume/and thy gold to refine.” (“My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends – it gives a lovely light! “Edna St. Vincent Millay )( When you borrow a quote from someone, use quote marks and give credit to the proper author. You should think of enough clever things on your own ) ( While typing the last bit, the text started to erase what was typed in before it. This is called autotyping, and is very annoying. If you hit the insert key, it will stop. Usually. )// Never announce disinterest in the Twilight series while standing in line at a bookstore full of women holding the latest edition. Murderous stares will ensue.//There will never be enough time to read all of the books I desire to read.//A broken heart will mend.//Living in the past wastes the present. (Beware of people who criticize living in the past. They are often hypocrites.) // Learning from the past can brighten the future. ( Livestock does much better in the pasture than the future.)//“A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, ‘I survived.’” – C.C.//Never panic when trapped in an elevator with an eleven-year-old. Start singing TV theme songs instead. ( Once PG waited an hour for Sylvester Stallone to make a personal appearance. Rambo did not appear. When PG got back to the office, he was stuck in the elevator with a young lady who did not like him. The non appearance of Stallone gave him something to talk about.)//Trying to outrun a pit-bull while wearing a walking cast is a frightful (yet comical) experience.//Walking face-first into a marble pillar? Located in the city bank? It’s not the end of the world.//But change banks.//Health is a blessing. ( PG has been known to suffer from gout. When he goes for a walk, he knows what a blessing it is to walk without pain.)// Laughing is the most wonderful sound.( When someone is laughing at you, it can be annoying.)//Sometimes a good cry is all I need.//Not every story has a happy ending.//Faith is not sitting still, waiting for something to happen.//It is not all about me. (But you are important. If something is not working for you, do you really need to be doing it? The “not all about you” argument is frequently used by selfish people who do not have your best interests at heart.)// Dancing the Hokey Pokey with my nephews and nieces? Best. Time. Ever.//The little things are what matter.//“I love you.” These words mean nothing when they are just words. ( Hallmark cards is not using that line.)//Google does not know everything.//Neither does Wikipedia.//Hearing and listening = two different things.//Mind over matter. Sometimes it works.//Kermit the Frog is made of awesome.//I will always lose in a staring contest.//Gratitude is more attractive than greed.

There is an old saying that if a dog bites a man, that is not news. It is when a man bites a dog…that is news.
Recently, several political/religious “leaders” have been revealed to be pathetic phonies. If you want to know the names, just look at any number of internet sites. Dog bites man.
Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.

There is a facebook page now, If-the-American-Flag-offends-you-Ill-be-happy-to-help-you-pack. This rubs PG the wrong way.
Before you start to holler, there are a few facts to consider. PG has had a good life in The USA, and cannot imagine living anywhere else. He pays taxes without complaint. When PG was military age, America was winding down a disastrous war, and military service was not seen as a good option.
PG compares his thoughts about America with his thoughts about his hometown of Atlanta GA. He has had a good life in both places, and does not want to live anywhere else. And yet, no one is ever asked to “die for Atlanta”. That duty is reserved for the national political unit. If PG had been 110 years older, he would have had to opportunity to die for Georgia. That war is seen as wasting thousands of good men. When it comes to dying for a political unit, there is a lot of waste.
No, the Stars and Stripes, while aesthetically challenged, does not offend PG. That does not mean that our flag should be used for jewelry, or to promote products. The flag should be respected, not left out in direct sunlight for years at a time, until the red, white, and blue is pink, gray, and lavender.
A few years ago, after a Supreme Court ruling about flag burning, PG worked with someone who drove a van. There was a bumper sticker on that van, with the American Flag, and the message “Try burning this one”. That van was parked in direct sunlight every day, and the sun burned those colors off that van.
The Flag is a political symbol, a symbol of a nation. A “Pledge of Allegiance” to this symbol should not include the use of a sacred name. The word G-d should only be used for worship, and respectful discussion, not the celebration of political symbols. If you have any more questions, look at the Third Commandment.
No, the American Flag does not offend PG. However, Facebook groups that would try to bully people who don’t have the “correct” opinion about this symbol…that would seek to create conflict between citizens…that does offend PG.
Photographs are from
The Library of Congress. The flag image is by PG.

Some people think that the drought is over, and we can go back to wasting water. They are wrong.
From a water supply point of view, Atlanta is a terrible place for a city. 4 million people depend on the Chattahoochee River, an overgrown trout stream. If you look at a map of Georgia watersheds , you see what a small area is covered by the Chattahoochee.
As if that isn’t bad enough, the water is also claimed by Alabama and Florida. A nuclear power plant in Alabama uses enormous amounts of river water. The three states have been arguing in the courts over the water rights for years, and the courts have ruled against Georgia.
For decayeds decades, the developers in Metro Atlanta have built as though having a water supply was not an issue. With dozens of governments to choose from, if the developers are turned down in one jurisdiction, they merely go to another…or make another bribe campaign contribution, and another forest bites the dust.
In an era of tea parties and calls for small government, few have a plan for the water crisis. There are going to be no cheap solutions. Even if we were to have access to the Tennessee River ( a very big if), a pipeline to carry the water through the mountains to Lake Lanier is going to be very expensive. We will not get this money by cutting taxes to stimulate the economy.
Even without a water sharing agreement, we almost ran out in 2007. A severe drought cannot be predicted, and another one may start today. The nuclear plant in Alabama requires tremendous amounts of water, and was close to having to shut down.
Much of the rain in Georgia comes from the Gulf of Mexico. This Gulf is currently becoming an open air reservoir for crude oil. What will happen when the remaining sea water evaporates, and becomes rain? Will the water have a helping of crude oil derivatives? At least this water can be used in a nuclear power plant.
Rain water is held in a reservoir until it is needed. For metro Atlanta, this is Lake Lanier. A water reservoir is not like a bank account, where the money earns interest. Water in a reservoir shrinks over time…water on the surface evaporates. When there is a drought in August, with 100 degree temperatures every day, water usage increases, evaporation increases, and there is no fresh rainwater going into the lake. This is how a water problem becomes a crisis.
There are a few, common sense, ways to save water now. Just because we are not in a drought does not mean we need to start wasting water. The water we save now will (mostly) be waiting for us when ( not if) another drought starts.
When you brush your teeth, fill a cup of water up first. Use part of this to rinse your mouth, and use the rest to clean your brush.
If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.
Get a stopper for the bathroom sink. If you shave, save water in the sink to clean your razor.
Keep a jug of water in the fridge if you like cold water. Don’t let the water run until it gets cold.
Take a “navy shower”. Get wet, turn the water off , lather up,  turn the water back on, rinse.
Only run dishwashers and washing machines when they are full.
There are many, many more ways to save water. The less we use now, the longer our reserves will last. The water shortage will never be over in Atlanta.
Pictures from The Library of Congress.

People are saying more and more about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. TomDispatch has a fascinating paragraph about one of the key players, British Petroleum (BP):
“Originally known as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (later the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, still later British Petroleum), BP got its start in southwestern Iran, where it once enjoyed a monopoly on the production of crude petroleum. In 1951, its Iranian holdings were nationalized by the democratic government of Mohammed Mossadeq. The company returned to Iran in 1953, following a U.S.-backed coup that put the Shah in power, and was finally expelled again in 1979 following the Islamic Revolution.”
If you look at the problems of the world in the last forty years, so many are affected by Iran. The 1953 revolution left great resentment, which became manifest in the 1979 revolution. Soon Iraq…whose border with Iran was clumsily drawn by the British…decides to attack Iran. A gruesome eight year war is the result, with the USA supporting both sides ( as well as possibly encouraging Iraq to attack Iran). The idea was, if they are fighting each other, they will leave Israel alone.
After this war is over, Iraq has a problem with Kuwait over it’s war debt. Another war is the result, with the USA involved. Iraq is vanquished, but some in the USA are not satisfied, and after a few years the USA invades Iraq again. That war is still raging.
The biggest winner of the US-Iraq war (aka World War W) is Iran. This new influence in Persia is very troubling to Israel, which is loudly rattling it’s nuclear saber. While Israel is making noise about Iran, it takes attention away from the Palestinian tragedy.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

There are two days in every week that we should not worry about, two days that should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One is yesterday, with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. Yesterday has passed, forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday. We cannot undo a single act we performed. Nor can we erase a single word we’ve said – yesterday is gone! The other day we shouldn’t worry about is tomorrow, with its impossible adversaries, its burden, its hopeful promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is beyond our control. Tomorrow’s sun will rise either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds – but it will rise. And until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn. This leaves only one day – today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day. It is only when we add the burdens of yesterday and tomorrow that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives people mad – it is the remorse of bitterness for something which happened yesterday, and the dread of what tomorrow may bring. Let us, therefore, live one day at a time! The poem is from cyberrecovery Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

Here is a feature about what is quaintly called “nudism”. It is a radio show from 1966, on a mainstream AM station in “Chicagoland”(spell check suggestion:Chicanery). The tapes include the commercials and news, and are a trip back in time.
AM radio used to have a lot of shows like this. TV was established, FM radio was on the way, and AM radio was adjusting. While the music stations were popular, most towns had stations which played mainstream music, and tried to appeal to as many people as possible. In Atlanta, the equivalent would be WSB. In those days, you added FM or TV…if you just saw the call letters, it was assumed to be AM radio.
PG had quite a time with these files. He tried to listen to them on the site, but could not pause, or adjust the volume. PG then dragged the files into a window, double clicked, and an mp3 appeared in the window. The fun started when he tried to play them in “Winamp”.
The program went crazy. You could not minimize, open another window, adjust the volume, or anything. PG tried to close the program, and nothing worked. Finally, the only way to get the program to close was to cut the power off to the computer. This is a crude way of turning off the machine, and is only used as a last resort.
When PG tried to cut the machine back on, it would not start. After unplugging/replugging the wire, hitting the circuit breaker, and saying a few cuss words, PG found a toggle switch on back of the tower. After turning this switch off and on, the computer started back.
Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.

…c_in take the…A out and pu tht eT there…ccian…job 11:3 and job 13. they use those thigns to make it look like there enemy sare drunk on there own blood….c tin say tin…that be what you ge twhen thty epu thtose htgins in side of yall the same thign babylonians get…some of them…god told me to tale yall servnats he declined yall sacrifice to him which be me…. you no the one ind aliek terry shravo wiht all the brain tumors in th ebrain yall stole th emri’s an deeg’s to….eeg’s to….swtiched them out an dgav ethem to a looka like…what do yall think cains offer to the lord was…it be abel his sarifice…that crap is over thou…many yrs…. they take the eyes off of me they are jsut simply taking the eyes off of me they had to do it for another reason. they say. now if these thgns in the house finish off there sacrifice no there s but theres then they had nothin gto do wiht it…. they were usign my birth certificate as they were using battry charger son my brains. to keep me ou tof the public eye and mak ei t where i was nto all coheirant cuase i saw some fishy things going on everytitm ei started to figure out what they were doing. they use battery charger sit was non of my buisness man shalll rule ove rothers…and yes he had more than one compannion…he had to use a look laiek daddy to rule ove rme an dhis other copanions at the same time… the other servants are sayin gthey are helping some htigns out they beelive in forgivness. of couse they do they were in on it. they were the ones using my birth certificate. and witneses a tthe clubs an dstuff….private partys…it is michaels little ghost rider writer.,…poked at the dragon an dhe poked back…war roke out in heaven…. ti is given to everyman to carrry his own load so i was gettin gthe work ou tas they were collecting rewards yall… it is fair in there book…eyefor an eye a tooth for a tooth…they belive in whats fair they fogot to tale yall thye had a little buddy in my lap for over 20 yrs, and the police new about it an dthe sheriff to. they just thought ti was fair that swhen thye let c_in an dthose thngs43’s of there finsih there joba as they help them out. soe not lal of them…Pictures from The Library of Congress.