Who Invented Peanut Butter?
PG got an email from Uzi, with a list of home remedies, and alternate product uses. Peanut butter has three alternative uses, which is one more than preparation H. No one ever made a preparation H and jelly sandwich.
To remove labels off glassware, rub with peanut butter. To remove ink from the face of dolls, treat with peanut butter. To get the scratches out of CD’s, use peanut butter, and wipe off with a coffee filter.
Peanuts were used by the Incas in 950 b.c. It probably didn’t take much imagination to grind the beans into a paste. To claim inventing peanut butter is like claiming to invent the knot.
In recent times, Dr. Ambrose Straub of St. Louis patented a peanut butter-making machine in 1903. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg patented a “Process of Preparing Nut Meal” in 1895. Kellogg served the patients at his Battle Creek Sanitarium peanut butter.
Joseph L. Rosenfield invented a churning process that made smooth peanut butter smooth. In 1928, Rosenfield licensed his invention to the Pond Company, the makers of Peter Pan peanut butter. In 1932, Rosenfield began making his own brand of peanut butter called Skippy.
Did someone say George Washington Carver? Dr. Carver discovered hundreds of uses for the peanut. However, Dr. Carver did not patent peanut butter, as he believed food products were all gifts from God. The Incas beat all of these men by 2800 years.
In 1976, a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia was elected President. It is also known the his brother Billy ran the family business, while Jimmy got mixed up in politics. While President, Mr. Carter was revealed to be a major user of Preparation H.
Now that we are confused about who invented peanut butter, the next question is, why butter? In The Netherlands, the product is called Pinda Kaas, or peanut cheese. It could as easily be mud, goo, or cream, as butter.
A google search on “why is peanut paste called peanut butter?” yielded an article about salmonella issues. Wikipedia sheds no light on the subject, but does mention that peanut butter is an effective bait for mouse traps.
Inventors.about.com has a page about “The history of peanut butter”. Portions of the text were copied into this post.
In Sickness And In Health
No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day.
“No one” Is this the individual, or the United States? With the individual, death occurs when the body no longer functions. Is this going to happen to the United States?
What is the health care the United States cannot afford? Is it taking over the medical industry, by the government, with all that is implied? The political cost is steep, and perhaps the financial one as well. At what point does the amount of FRAUD ( Federal Reserve Accounting Unit Dollars) in circulation outweigh the goods and services produces enough to render the FRAUD useless?
Should America go broke because she is sick? Fighting an endless war of choice in Babylon, operating health care as a profit center, pumping billions of tons of co2 into the atmosphere…some would say America is sick. Should America go broke because she is sick? Will America die because she cannot afford health care?
Maybe this is the entire planet that is set to die. Out of control population growth is a reality. As the United States is learning on her southern border, this affects us. When you say no one, does that really mean no one. Is the baby in Zimbabwe as important as the Alpharetta housewife? And when does this system break down under the need, and die because it went broke?
At some point choices need to be made. Prevention and healthy living should take a priority over healing the sick. A fair and effective way needs to be found to pay for health care. The economy needs to thrive for the same reason. A way of living that is going to be sustainable needs to be put into place. Heath care is just another stone in the foundation, but the one that, when pulled out, brings the entire house down with it.
Anything To Get Attention
John Oxendine is running for governor. He is doing whatever it takes to let people know. A few weeks ago, Mr. Oxendine was feuding with a 15 y.o. blogger. The latest gimmick is a proposal to build an expressway through the uber trendy northeast side of Atlanta.
To be fair, some of his transportation ideas are sound. There is this banana shaped road, going from north georgia to south georgia, that would divert traffic from the Atlanta area. This was the original function of I285. Next time you are on that parking lot at rush hour, remember, it was supposed to be a low traffic bypass for the Yankees going to Florida.
The idea that has the eyes rolling is the proposal to build a highway in the I485 corridor. The original plan was to build an expressway that would connect highway 400 with the Freedom Parkway. When it was first proposed, it was called I485. It was killed by neighborhood opposition.
PG suspects that Mr. Oxendine knows that this intown expressway has zero chance of being built. At this stage of the game, he is trying to get attention. One idea is to open a restaurant. Atlanta used to have an eatery called the Pig and Whistle. The new version could be the Ox and Dine.
Thank you AtlantaTimeMachine and GeorgiaNavigator for the pictures. The spell check suggestions for Oxendine are trendiness, unending, and spending.
Labels Belong On Jars
Abraham at twentytwowords wrote… “When I asked about churches last week, some of you reminded me you’re not Christian.So…Non-Christian readers, what (non)religion are you?” That is 23 words.
PG answered the original post “home churched”. He decided to answer the follow up question. Unlike most of the others to answer, PG wanted to keep this under 22 words.
PG was raised in the Southern Baptist Church. There is a tradition in the Baptist Church to make a “profession of faith”, usually when the kid is around 10. For various reasons, PG never did this, and was never baptized. PG decided when he was 17 to quit attending. He has been to Briarcliff Baptist one time since then…he worked for a blueprint company, and delivered a set of plans to the church office.
PG went back and forth on the religion issue. In 1979, there was a week in Camp K, a moonie facility. After reading, thinking, and prayer, PG chose to live in harmony with Jesus worshipers.
In 1998, PG went to work for Redo blue. There were seven hellish years working closely with a Professional Jesus Worshiper. By the end of that experience, PG was alienated from Jesus. He wished to never hear the J-name mentioned again. Living in the Jesus happy United States, PG could seldom go 24 hours without having Jesus shoved in his face.
After a temper tantrum from the PJW, PG wrote down two sentences. “I am not interested in your opinions about G-d, The Bible, Jesus, or life after death. My opinions about G-d, The Bible, Jesus, or life after death are none of your business.”
There probably is not a religion that PG could fit into without a lot of shoehorning. Atheist is out, because PG suspects that there is a G-d. What form she takes is a matter of dispute. As for belief, PG questions that belief is the proper approach to G-d.
Agnostic sounds like something you would blow out of your nose. Judaism is a party that PG is not invited to. Buddhism makes some good points, but PG is awfully occidental. As for christianism, PG sees Jesus in the words and deeds of his believers. In his seven years at redo blue, PG saw an estimated 1400 hours of loud, hateful ministry. I am not talking to you!
As for the obsession with life after death that infects Jesus worship, PG feels pity and disgust. This is not a good focus for a religious practice, nor does it excuse verbal abuse. PG has ideas about life after death, but this post is waaay over 22 words.
PG decided that this label thing was not going to work. Labels belong on jars, and PG’s hair is a half inch over jarhead level. The best solution was to write a list of beliefs. The good news here is that numbers do not count against the total of 22 words.
1. My beliefs are my business. 2. Practice outweighs belief. 3. G-d probably exists. 4. G-d does not write books. 5. Jesus has nothing to do with Life after death.
This is 25 words. Three words need to go. Line 4 states that G-d does not write books. This implies that G-d does, indeed, exist. Line 3 can be eliminated, and the answer reduced to 22 words.
Greeted As Liberators Part Two
Paul Wolfowitz has been a government player for years. After finishing his education, he got a job in the Nixon Administration, and worked with Ford and Reagan. He became a star under GHWB and GWB. Apparently, Paul Wolfowitz never served in the military.
Under George W. Bush, Mr. Wolfowitz was Deputy Secretary of Defense. After 911, he became a forceful advocate of War in Iraq. He is regarded by some as the “Architect of the War in Iraq”.
On February 27, 2003, Mr. Wolfowitz testified before congress. “There has been a good deal of comment—some of it quite outlandish—about what our postwar requirements might be in Iraq. Some of the higher end predictions we have been hearing recently, such as the notion that it will take several hundred thousand U.S. troops to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq, are wildly off the mark. It is hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would take to conduct the war itself and to secure the surrender of Saddam’s security forces and his army—hard to imagine.”
The conquest was the easy part. The occupation, the act of putting humpty dumpty back together, has been the tough part. More than a few people saw this in 2003.
Mr. Wolfowitz gave an interview to Vanity Fair magazine May 9, 2009. The interview had a quote about WMD. Mr. Wolfowitz said “The truth is that for reasons that have a lot to do with the U.S. government bureaucracy we settled on the one issue that everyone could agree on which was weapons of mass destruction as the core reason,”.
The possession of WMD by “next Hitler” Saddam Hussein was one of the leading reasons for the invasion. Iraq was known to have used poison gas against the Kurds (while he was an ally of the United States). The warehouses of WMD have never been found in the current occupation. There is speculation as to whether these supplies existed at all, or whether they were disposed of prior to the invasion.
In 1941, The United States was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor. A declaration of war was issued within a week. There was no settling on an issue for bureaucratic reasons.
PG found a transcript of the complete interview. HT to TomDispatch. Apparently, Mr. Wolfowitz likes to talk. The part that interested PG concerns the Cruise missile, and other “smart” weapons. It seems as though the research on these weapons was almost suspended. The United States was negotiating arms control with The Soviet Union. The Cruise missile was almost abandoned as a concession to the Soviets. The Navy supported this, as they felt that the torpedoes on submarines were taking up too much room already. It is tough to imagine the current US military without “smart” weapons.
Greeted As Liberators
One thing that PG likes to do is investigate “things he has always heard”. With google, you can often find the source, and a few things more. Some urban legends are tough to trace, often because they don’t exist. Others pop up 575k results is .49 seconds.
The myth PG was chasing was the notion that government officials said our army “will be greeted as liberators” in Iraq. On March 16, 2003, Vice President Dick Cheney was on Meet the Press.
MR. RUSSERT: If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?
VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. I’ve talked with a lot of Iraqis in the last several months myself, had them to the White House. The president and I have met with them, various groups and individuals, people who have devoted their lives from the outside to trying to change things inside Iraq. And like Kanan Makiya who’s a professor at Brandeis, but an Iraqi, he’s written great books about the subject, knows the country intimately, and is a part of the democratic opposition and resistance. The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to the get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that.
There are a few things to say 78 months later. Why did the Vice President have this much power? The VP is supposed to dedicate buildings and go to funerals. Dick Cheney was clearly a very powerful man, and he was not elected to that job.
Mr. Russert, rest his soul, seems to have gotten one detail wrong. The conquest of Baghdad went smoothly, with relatively few American casualties. It was the occupation that would be “long, costly, and bloody …with significant American casualties”. One of the casualties has been the American economy.
There probably were many Iraqis who welcomed the change, Clearly, Mr. Hussein had some enemies, and there were some who did see the invasion as liberation. There were others who did not. Players in other countries saw an opportunity to come to Iraq and make trouble. The regime that was changed had many employees, who were bumped out of jobs. “The people of Iraq” were no more a monolithic force, all acting the same way, as the people of America would be if they were invaded.
Even if the Americans were “greeted as liberators”, there would be many challenges. The country had no experience in dealing with democracy. The different ethnic groups did not like each other. Sunnis were seen as having been privileged, and many were looking to settle the score. It seems obvious that these problems were not anticipated.
There is a debate in The United States about the use of torture. It seems apparent that “enhanced interrogation” was used extensively in Iraq and elsewhere. The use of torture would seem to be an admission that we were not greeted as liberators.
The Real Candidates Of Atlanta
PG points his camera at an object and pushes the button. Sometimes a good picture is the result. Sometimes the computer can salvage it, and sometimes there is no hope.
Two things that PG likes to capture are graffiti and mannequins. Both are fantasies. One hopes to move product, the other stays in place until the next spraypaintcan works over it. Politics is another fantasy. The only difference is that some confuse politics with reality.
While editing this piece, PG thought of how similar politics is to graffiti. Both are admired more by the producer than by the audience. The public forum is the medium, to be covered by sprayed on chemicals until the term of office is over. At that point, the next public official makes his or her mark on the body politics. If only politicians were quiet like mannequins, then the world would be a much better place.
Atlanta is currently trying to elect another mayor. Shirley Franklin is going to spend more time with her family, if they will have her. There are five “serious” candidates for the office. Two women, three men, one white, and four black. One has a muslim name, but is a methodist. None is likely to be elected President of the United States.
It should be noted at this time that PG lives 3 miles east of the city limit. The mayoral race is none of his business. He does, however, have space to sell on to any candidate wanting to advertise. Any candidate who would buy space on a blog with twenty readers a day should be automatically disqualified .
The two women are Mary Norwood and Lisa Borders. They are the front runners at this time. Ms. Norwood is the Caucasian. Lisa Borders has the same name as the author of “Cloud Cuckoo Land”. PG suspects they take stands on the issues.
A memo was recently circulated by the “Black Leadership Forum”. The memo states that Lisa Borders is the one candidate who can defeat Mary Norwood, and urges people to unite behind her. The BLF does not want Atlanta to have a white mayor. Ms. Borders is obligated to denounce the memo, while secretly hoping people take the message to heart. It is good training for Mayor’s job, if she gets elected.
Mohammed Kasim Reed, Jesse Spikes, and Glenn Thomas are the three men in the race. Mr. Reed has served in the Georgia Legislature. Mr. Reed has been quoted as being opposed to gay marriage. The Mayor of Atlanta has nothing to do with this issue.
The only candidate that PG has met is Glenda Bernadette Allen. She is an activist who fights the foreclosure of homes. Ms. Allen was at the town hall meeting in Clarkston on August 10. Glenda Bernadette Allen is the prettiest of the candidates.
Wendy Whitaker Goes To Jail
Wendy Whitaker is back in the news. At least some of the news…the fishwrapper has not reported the latest chapter in her story. Thank you Creative Loafing, which is physically printed by the fishwrapper. ( Ever notice how skinny the paper is on Tuesday? That is when they take in outside jobs. Of course, lately it is skinny everyday) A HT goes to the unlikely team of Griftdrift and Peach Pundit. There is a recent post at Chamblee54 on this subject.
Mrs. Whitaker is the lady who gave a high school classmate a blow job, and became a registered sex offender(RSO). She is now in jail. It seems like her husbands name was on a lease, and they moved into a residence that was previously out of bounds. The authorities locked her up because she did not inform them that she had moved.
The laws on RSO have a lot of provisions. They are not allowed to live within a certain distance of schools, parks, and churches. ( Across the street from an IRS office is permitted) An RSO is not allowed to volunteer at a church. And, as Mrs. Whitaker learned, they must register every time they move. There are stories of people getting locked up because of confusion over how often they should register,or big brother not getting the note.
Many Florida communities have tough laws, establishing boundaries for places that RSO are forbidden to live. A bridge under a causeway is one place where RSO are permitted. Many feel that driving RSO out of established communities makes it difficult to monitor their activities.
A prominent Florida lobbyist, Ron Book, had a horrifying experience with a nanny. Mr. Book pushed for establishment of many of the punitive Florida laws. Mr. Book is beginning to regret his lust for revenge after seeing some of the unintended consequences.
Politicians always want to be seen as being tougher on crime than anyone else. Some of the laws they create cause more problems than they solve. It will take genuine courage to undo the damage.
Another Personality Test
There is a email going around, that you are supposed to send to your friends. This blog might not have enough readers to make the quota, but PG is going to try anyway.
The email is a personality test. Allegedly it is endorsed by the Dalai Lama. PG thinks Tenzin Gyato has more sense than that, and has looked for an endorsement. In fact, a google search for “personality test” at DalaiLama.com yields no answer.
Official or not, the test is harmless enough. Make a wish before you start, which will be known only to you. There are four questions. It is considered cheating to look ahead to the answers before you take the test. Write down your answers on paper, and then look at the results.
If you want a fancier version of the test, you can go here, there, or wait until you get the email. In the chamblee54 edition, the test will be in blue, and the answers in purple. This will help those who want honest answers. You, in the corner, stop snickering.
1- Put the following 5 animals in the order of your preference:
Cow, Tiger, Sheep, Horse, Pig
2- Write one word that describes each one of the following:
Dog, Cat, Rat, Coffee, Sea.
3- Think of someone, who also knows you and is important to you, which you can relate them to the following colors. Do not repeat your answer twice. Name just one person for each color:
Yellow, Orange, Red, White, Green.
4- Finally, write down your favorite number, and your favorite day of the week.
Ok, are you through with your answers? Remember, no looking ahead!
1-This will define your priorities in your life.
Cow Signifies CAREER, Tiger Signifies PRIDE, Sheep Signifies LOVE, Horse Signifies FAMILY,
Pig Signifies MONEY
2-Your description of dog implies your own personality. Your description of cat implies the personality of your partner. Your description of rat implies the personality of your enemies. Your description of coffee is how you interpret sex. Your description of the sea implies your own life.
3-Yellow: Someone you will never forget–Orange: Someone you consider your true friend
Red: Someone that you really love–White: Your twin soul
Green: Someone that you will remember for the rest of your life
4-You have to send this message to as many persons as your favorite number and your wish will come true on the day that you recorded.
O Is A Vowel
“Wild Ducks Flying Backward” is due today at the Chamblee Library. As much as PG admires enjoys Tom Robbins, his output is not worth an overdue fine. Towards the end of the book, there are a series of questions. As a loyal reader, PG has a sense of entitlement , and license to borrow.
Why do you live where you do?
The house is paid for. Besides, Atlanta, with all her flaws, is a good place to use as a return address. The weather is reasonable. The Falcons had a winning season last year, so there is no need to worry about them going over .500 this year.
PG feels the same about Atlanta as he does about The United States. Both are very fine places, with very serious problems. The wolf criers have been making noise as long as PG could listen, and the bottom has not fallen out. The one difference is that no one is expected to “Love it or leave it” with regard to your zip code. And, if someone asked whether you would die for Atlanta, he would be rightfully laughed out of the house.
What is your favorite letter of the alphabet.
O. And this has nothing to do with the POTUS. O is a well shaped letter. It is a vowel, which means consonants are begging for its company. It is a circle, a wheel, a pie and a hockey puck. Three out of four isn’t bad.
O is the first letter of om, which is the combination of all sounds, and a humming good mantra. O is the twin brother of zero, the one great innovation of arabic numbers. When you spell the word Dog, O is the glue holding the quarreling consonants into canine cooperation. When you spell Dog backwards, you get the name of Mary’s babydaddy. THAT name gets said way too often, and PG tries not to hold that against O.
PG was too slack to write this continuance, until after he had returned the book to the library. He cannot remember any other questions.
Speak Well Of The Dead
PG was not going to talk about Ted Kennedy. The man served for many years in the Senate, and worked hard for what he thought was right. There were some unfortunate incidents in his personal life. PG is not a moral statistician, and shudders at the thought of judging someone with that many positives and negatives.
Ted Kennedy has been in the public eye as long as PG has been old enough to pay attention. For years, he was the boogey man of the right wing. If a strawman was ever needed, Ted Kennedy was trotted out. PG suspects that many people who were offended by John and Robert Kennedy (especially regarding their support of civil rights for African Americans) took out their anger on Ted Kennedy. The shortcomings in his personal life did not help.
There is a local blog, Peach Pundit, with a reputation for conservatism. Peach Pundit was respectful today.There was a story about an act of kindness by Senator Kennedy to a young law student. The comments had the predictable nasty players, but most showed respect. In an interesting move, rude comments were hidden behind a link. This allows the reader to see what followup comments are talking about.
Another blog, JoemyG-d, was admiring Senator Kennedy. In the comments, there was the anonymous “Guest” who felt the need to talk about Chappaquiddick. Numerous people took “Guest” to task for this. There were some who felt that negative comments should be deleted.
PG does not like having comments deleted. This is the right of a blog owner. Some have an itchy trigger finger, and will delete most of what they don’t like. When you do this, you take away the diversity needed for a lively discussion.
The following is a dialog between PG and “Guest”. Thank you JoemyG-d for hosting.
chamblee54- Joe, thank you for allowing the troll comments to remain up. You have the right to delete comments. However, your readers are capable of putting the trolls in their place.
Deleting comments is like war and abortion. We should keep the option open, but only use it when absolutely necessary.
As for Senator Kennedy, he has been raked over the coals for Chappaquiddick. The right wing has used that incident to great advantage. At the time of the Senators passing, we should speak well of the man.Today, 12:03:55 PM
“Guest”- can you speak well of someone like OJ Simpson? Right wing – left wing doesn’t matter. Ted Kennedy killed a young lady with the rest of her life a head of her so he didn’t have to take responsility for his actions. Drinking and Driving is a crime, leaving the scene of an accident is a crime, killing someone while behind the wheel of a vehicle is a crime. How much time did Ted Kennedy spend in jail for his crimes? How much time would a regular American spend in prison for these crimes? Today, 12:31:40 PM
chamblee54- If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all. This is especially true when a person dies, and his fingernails are still growing. When OJ goes to the Hertz office in the sky, I will have nothing to say. Today, 12:51:43 PM
“Guest”- chamblee54 kennedy has been rightfully raked of the coals for his actions at chapppaquidick, it has nothing to do with right wing or your socialist attitude it has to do with what he did, how he let her die and who was bribed. We should never speak well of any of the kennedy family; bootlegger and other RICO enterprises that allowed the money to flow.Today, 12:56:21 PM
Paint The Ceiling Beige
PG has had internet service with BellSouth since he bought a computer. They add the charge to his phone bill. It has worked very well.
At some point, AT&T bought BellSouth. At some point after that, AT&T made a deal with Yahoo to “Power” AT&T. PG got emails warning him about the change. These messages did not mean much to PG, who decided that he would take what action needed to be taken at the right time.
This afternoon, PG got to a stopping point on a picture project, and went to check his email. The outlook express did not work. It was the start of a nightmare.
PG is over call centers. The other night, he called Tracfone, and talked to a young man over a horrible connection. The man did not understand english very well. This is how companies save money, and increase unemployment in the United States.
PG was still connected to the internet, and went to the site where he used to check his email away from home. He was directed to a new “powered by yahoo” site. PG was required to register for a new system, amidst popup screens asking him to take a tour of the new AT&T. Finally, he got through to his email, and found a one word comment to a blog post. Somebody thought the BHO health care plan was cool.
Meanwhile, the yahoo site…which PG uses to check his yahoo account…was now logged in under a new account. Instead of logging in and out all the time, PG decides to use one browser for yahoo and one browser for AT&T. It has been a while since PG used the secondary browser.,
The AT&T page has a place where you can troubleshoot your email, and PG goes there. It tells you to go to an options tab on outlook, and enter a lot of numbers and settings. It did not make the outlook express work.
There is a phone number for AT&T. PG has spent quality time on this, talking to people in India, The Philippines, and Dothan, Alabama. PG never thought he would be happy to deal with Alabama, but he was. To be fair, the people in these call centers are polite and hard working. They just have big problems to deal with, especially with this AT&T powered by Yahoo fiasco.
The number is busy, busy, busy. On the one time in twenty that PG gets through, he gets chased off due to heavy call volume.
PG tried yet another time with the phone number, and did get through to an agent, with a good sounding connection. He is going to try to reconfigure the connection to outlook express.
The last try did work. It took over an hour, and the old accounts had to be destroyed and new accounts set up. By the time it was over, PG was ready to start as a tech rep and talk someone else through the process. He might even move to Alabama.
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