Podcasts 2025 Part One
I did a few posts about podcasts a while back. 100620 101420 120920 120321 Looking over these posts told me about a few shows that I had forgotten, and needed to catch up on. With podcasts, it is better to catch up than to mustard.
There have been some changes in the last four years. Some of this is specific to me, so if you get bored you can skip ahead to the links. The gym I went to closed, and I found a replacement. I finally replaced the flip phone with a samsung android. This phone has 128x the storage of the flip phone, and allows me to watch movies. The music players allow me to scroll forward. The ss also has the notes app. When I pause a show, I make a note of where I am in the show. The ss has the unfortunate tendency to start another show without warning, and it is good to know where to start over.
Another game changer was the October 7 incident. Many shows I once enjoyed are now unlistenable due to obnoxious Zionist rhetoric. This quote from 2021 tells the story: Bari Weiss has a dandy show. The first edition that I heard was about Amy Cooper, the “Central Park Karen.” That story has a lot of details that never got widespread circulation. Ms. Weiss is someone that I take a cafeteria approach to. Many of her podcast episodes are excellent. OTOH, some of her opinions about Israel are beyond horrible. Another opinion comes from The Root: “Bari Weiss, a fellow white woman who is in the running for Kareniest Karen who ever Karened in the history of Klanned Karenhood.”
My next chore for today tells a bit about my current habits. Every morning, I walk for a half hour, usually listening to a show. Before leaving, I update my phone. I go to the podcast folder, which I keep on the cloud. Open the list, and see if there are any fresh shows to download.
Today, the first DL is from “Freak Flag Flying”. This is a show I had forgotten, until I saw this post … Freak Flag Flying was a short series, featuring David Crosby. The C in CSNY has a lot of talent. If you don’t believe it, just ask him. Mr. Crosby has some stories to tell, and ranks with Keith Richards for somehow surviving rock and roll. Mr. Crosby got on the tour bus in the sky January 18, 2023.
The next step is plugging the phone into the computer. There are two folders on the screen, podcast-od (cloud) and 001 podcast-ss (phone). Delete all files that I have listened to. Copy the new files into the phone. Move the cloud files into a sub-folder, phone. But your shoes on and go.
This is enough for one day. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in March 1941. “Bar Norfolk, Virginia” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
War On Christmas
This content was originally published December 14, 2012. The “War on Christmas” is much less contentious in 2025. … Merry Christmas used to be a greeting of good will. It meant, I am happy that you survived the year, have a nice holiday. Saying Merry Christmas, instead of Happy Holidays, 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 could ignore it if you wanted to.
“Some” Christians want it all. The fact that our culture is dominated by Jesus worship is not good enough. And they don’t care if it offends you. Peace on earth, and good will towards men, is obsolete.
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, myself included, have been hurt by Jesus. Christianism is an aggressive religion. If you don’t agree, you can expect to be insulted and humiliated. As society becomes more and more secular, believers get more aggressive. Many people have come to see the birth of Jesus as something to be mourned, rather than celebrated.
I used to enjoy saying Merry Christmas. To me, 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. I found this recently, and it is not original to me. 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. Moreover, drunkenness is a sin, and 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?
When preparing this feature, I googled the idea that merry means drunken. This was the AI reply: “That is an interesting assertion, but wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” is not a wish for a “Drunken Christmas.” The word “merry” simply means cheerful, lively, or happy, with no inherent connection to alcohol [1]” The footnote is to an article, which essentially says that merry means drunken. … Pictures today are from Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken in 1941. Atlanta Biltmore Hotel exterior. ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
122525
It is Christmas, 122525. One way to begin is by looking at my podcasts. The two Thursday downloads are Infamous and Question Everything. One of them does not have a new episode. The other one has a rerun. I didn’t like that episode the first time, so I won’t listen to it again.
Blue sky is a dependable source of amusement. The first thing I stumbled onto today was RadicchioFricchioOhio asking “But have you considering literally anything else ?” There was a screen shot attached, for this story: “‘Do we look alike?’: This dad is doing OnlyFans with his 18-year-old son, and the content is WILD”
If you go to dcbrne (top 0.2% Onlyfans), you see an eight second video. @dcbrne “Just a stroll in the woods with @BcBrne1.” Father and son walk through the woods, with a pause to drop trou, and show you their butts. Other videos frequently feature iambigrob93, and have a noticeable gay vibe.
The next thing to catch my eye was Skeets of Grass, a blue sky account for Walt Whitman. SOG posts samples from “Leaves of Grass” several times a day. Today saw this: @skeetsofgrass.bsky.social “The person he favors by day or sleeps with at night is blessed.” In an ironic move, when you google the text, you are directed to Psalm 127:2. “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” Google may as well be gargle sometimes.
The Whitman poem, Song Of The Answerer, offers delightful context. “Books, friendships, philosophers, priests, action, pleasure, pride, beat up and down seeking to give satisfaction, He indicates the satisfaction, and indicates them that beat up and down also. Whichever the sex, whatever the season or place, he may go freshly and gently and safely by day or by night, He has the pass-key of hearts, to him the response of the prying of hands on the knobs. His welcome is universal, the flow of beauty is not more welcome or universal than he is, The person he favors by day or sleeps with at night is blessed.”
The entertainment on my morning walk was Mini-Stories Volume 21 from 99 Percent Invisible. One story was about the process the Catholic Church uses to approve people for Sainthood. It seems as though there is someone whose job is to find dirt on the would-be saint. This person is Advocatus Diaboli, or Devil’s Advocate. This is where the term originated.
“The person was supposed to take a skeptical view about this candidate’s saintliness, questioning were these really miracles that the candidate performed? You know, if you’ve read “Paradise Lost,” you know that the devil is very good at arguing, very persuasive. I guess the idea then was that there should be a position advocating a negative view, even if it was unpopular, just so that something as important as sainthood can withstand any kind of skepticism. … the position of devil’s advocate was abolished by Pope John Paul II in 1983. This was part of streamlining the whole canonization process. They still have a procedure for presenting opposing views. For instance, Christopher Hitchens was brought in to testify when Mother Teresa was being beatified in 2002.” … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Arthur Rothstein took the social media picture in February 1942. “Brownsville, Texas. Charro Days fiesta. Member of local businessmen’s committee dressed as Mexican bandido”©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Georgia On My Mind
This content was published December 16, 2020. … Rock the Runoff: Broadway for Georgia performs “Georgia On My Mind” turned up on facebook. This video got me thinking about GOOM.
Youtube turned up the original. “© Written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics) Gorrell wrote the lyrics for Hoagy’s sister, Georgia Carmichael. However, the lyrics of the song are ambiguous enough to refer either to the state or to a woman named “Georgia”. Carmichael’s 1965 autobiography, “Sometimes I Wonder”, records the origin: a friend, saxophonist and bandleader Frankie Trumbauer, suggested: “Why don’t you write a song called ‘Georgia’? Nobody lost much writing about the South.” Thus, the song is universally believed to have been written about the state.”
National Anthems has a story about GOOM. (The 90’s website has a retro-illustration.) “STUART GRAHAM STEVEN GORRELL (1901-1963) and HOAGLAND HOWARD CARMICHAEL (1899-1981), wrote the song in 1930 almost as a lark … Hoagy Carmichael went to Indiana University, and one of his best college chums was Stuart Gorrell. Hoagy Carmichael was going to be a lawyer and Stuart Gorrell, when not hanging around the local “jazz joint” (called The Book Nook!) had promised someone that he would eventually be a success in the world of business.”
“The two of them were together at a party in New York and Hoagy Carmichael played what he had of the “Georgia” music line for Stuart Gorrell and some friends. After the party broke up, the two of them went back to a friend’s apartment and worked on the tune throughout the night. Stuart Gorrell wrote what he thought would be a good lyric line on the back of a post card, (now displayed in the Carmichael Room at Indiana University) and showed it to Hoagy Carmichael. One can still plainly see the few, but important, changes that Hoagy Carmichael made on that small piece of cardboard to Stuart Gorrell’s lyrical scratchings. (see note below) The song was improved upon, and the lyrics written, in that boozy early morning, and recorded in September 1930 by a band that included Hoagy Carmichael’s great friend, Bix Beiderbecke – a recording session that proved to be Bix’s last.”
“Hoagy Carmichael went on to write many more songs, some of them hits, and Stuart Gorrell kept his promise and became a Vice President at Chase Bank. Stuart Gorrell never tried to write another song lyric, but ‘Georgia on my Mind’ became a hit after World War II and Hoagy Carmichael, true to his word – although Stuart Gorrell was not legally credited as the lyricist by the music publisher – always sent Stuart Gorrell a cheque for what would have been his share of royalty. The royalty income from that song is substantial and, after Stuart Gorrell died, the income put his daughter through college.”
Mr. Gorrell wrote a letter to the Bremen (Indiana) Enquirer, August 3, 1961. “This accompanied his response to his home town’s Teen Hop patrons choosing the song as their theme song. … “Georgia on my mind” was composed more than a quarter of a century ago on a cold and stormy evening in 1930 in New York City. Hoagy Carmichael and I, in a third floor apartment overlooking 52nd street, with cold feet and warm hearts, looked out the window and, not liking what we saw, turned our thoughts to the pleasant southland. Thus was born a hauntingly sweet song. My mother, who died in Bremen in 1942, once asked a very penetrating question about the song. I had sent her a copy of the sheet music and, after reading the words over several times, she wondered aloud: “What is Georgia? A girl—or state? What do you think? Hoagy and I just love every one of you Bremen Teen Hoppers for honoring our tune by making it your theme song. Sincerely, Stuart Gorrell.”
“Georgia on my mind will enter the public domain January 1, 2026. … The 2020 post had a photograph of the original lyrics. The words “old sweet” were written in pencil, over a scratched out phrase. This photograph was at the Carmichael Room at Indiana University. I could not find this photograph at the internet archive. … “Significant portions of the collection at the ATM were digitized in 1999 as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences (IMLS). A website was created as part of the project, which is no longer updated.” … Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken in March 1953. “Atlanta Crackers, sign boards outside Ponce de Leon Park … Looking west, Sears warehouse visible on left.“ ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Are Your Friends Overweight?
This content was posted December 18, 2008. … The following items come from a blog called akmal eky. · In Tibet, a common drink is butter tea – it is made from yak butter, salt, and tea · The ancient Mayans made truly hot chocolate – they added chilies and corn to it · No one really knows when donuts were invented or who invented them · Apples, potatoes, and onions all taste the same when eaten with your nose plugged · When an egg floats in water, it is “off” and should not be eaten · The consumption of natural vanilla causes the body to release catecholamines (including adrenalin) – for this reason it is considered to be mildly addictive · Banana trees are not actually trees – they are giant herbs · The term “brain freeze” was invented to explain the pain one feels when drinking a slurpee too fast · Ketchup was originally a fish sauce originating in the orient · 7-Up – invented in 1920 contained Lithium – the drug commonly prescribed now to sufferers of bi-polar disorder.
This content was posted December 17, 2008. … For a blogger with nothing to say, an online test is a great excuse to post. The test today is about cannibalism. The idea is, you are caught in a blizzard, you run out of food, and one of your buddies dies. Do you make a meal out of your pal? … I am 35% likely to consume my friends. Questions include can you outrun your friends, are your friends overweight, and are you a vegetarian. Can a vegetarian eat a friend who is brain dead?
One festive question was “Suppose you were in a restaurant and cooked human flesh was on the menu, what would you do?” The possible answers were: Call the police, I’d order it, I wouldn’t order it. … This test is sponsored by an online dating service. You have to click through a screen inviting you to join before you can get your results. Will your test score is shared with your prospective sweetie?
@SpyTalker “CBS took down a link to the 60 Minutes El Salvador prison piece but @allisongill @MuellerSheWrote posted another.” In the comments, there is a link to another copy, Pulled 60 Minutes segment on CECOT “This is a screen recording of a 60 Minutes segment about the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison in El Salvador, which was intended to be aired December 22, 2025 but was pulled last minute for unclear reasons. Despite being pulled, it aired on Global-TV in Canada anyway.”
Live From The Table had a lively discussion, with @noam_dworman hosting @josh_hammer. It promised to be a rather unpleasant affair, that I would be better off not listening to. However, I realized that I did not know what Joshua Benjamin Hammer sounded like, so I recklessly scrolled ahead to a random spot in the show. Lo and behold, JBH was talking about a TPUSA event, where “I debated the moron Dave Smith.”
I am a Dave Smith fan. I don’t agree with him on everything, but on many important issues I agree 110 percent. Dave tells a story. He was appearing with JBH. They had a very friendly conversation in the Green Room before the show. JBH then gets on stage and says that he’s disgusted to be here on the same stage as Dave Smith. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Jack Delano took the social media picture in August 1941. “Children of Albert Lynch, FSA (Farm Security Administration) client near Dummerston, Vermont”
©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Non-Christian Sources
The display of a link on this page does not indicate approval of content.
JD Vance Is the White Kendi Against indigenous ways of knowing for hillbillies
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to get second opinion on torn ACL before …
The Sinister Origins of ‘Fascinate’ It’ll hold you spellbound.
Reiners’ son made guests uneasy at party day before his parents were found dead
10 Historical Facts About Jesus From Non-Christian Sources
Truth, Love, & Rage Bait Legislating Morality, Culture & Politics
History Impossible in the New York Times Okay, only kinda Alexander von Sternberg
Fatigue and Irritation – An Addendum (and Correction) to the Martyr Made Situation
How Bibi Boosts Antisemitism Plus: Elon’s sleuth fail; Eric Schmidt’s China envy; drugged …
james ransome · gaza · hasanabi · erika frantzve kirk · washington ut
piers morgan · curious about god · lou reed · stadiums · steven ho
fashion · fascinate · fascism · karl’s substack · nick reiner
genocide · The Warrior Princess · L5P · fashion · fascinate
are you a participant in the Chorus Creator Incubator Program? · This is the monday morning reader for a chilly December day. The picture below is Captain Levi Harrison Cullers – 1836-1907. Captain Cullers served in the Virginia Infantry Regiment and Virginia Cavalry Regiment. He was wounded at Brandy Station, Virginia, and lost an arm later in the war.” · Update On Monday December 15, the execution of Stacey Humphreys was been suspended, until further notice, by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. · Happy Solstice Happy Solstice Happy Solstice Happy Solstice Happy Solstice · um, then they talk about how he did a Wordle. He did a Wordle like right before Charlie’s assassination. Uh, by the morning of September 10th, 3 days later after this this earlier exchange he had online, which is irrelevant. Um, Robinson had made the the drive north to Utah Valley University. That’s where Charlie was killed. According to prosecutors, he texted his Wordle score to his friend at 11:28 that morning. At 1:51, he allegedly walked onto campus and then made his way onto the roof of the building. In the courtyard below, a crowd had gathered to hear Charlie. At 12:23 p.m., I mean, it’s remarkable. So, the word score was texted to his friend at 11:28. Less than 60 minutes later, he shot Charlie, according to prosecutors. · set up what tonights gonna look like · Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters. Albert Einstein. Erika Kirk: Deleted Tweets & Secret Past Exposed · 51-49 with James Li · Jetsons technology governed by Flintstones management · Some say that you should only use a quote when you have read the book the quote came from. In the case of Oscar Wilde’s definition of a cynic, this means watching a production of “Lady Windemere’s Fan.” · John Vachon took the picture in November 1938. “These men are both past sixty. Neither of them expect ever to work again. They ride freight trains from Omaha to Kansas City to St. Louis and back again. Omaha, Nebraska” · elote · Pictures today are from The Library of Congress Russell Lee took the social media picture in July 1942. “Rupert, Idaho. Former CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) camp now under FSA (Farm Security Administration) management. In the clinic at the camp which now houses Japanese-American farm workers. Medical care is provided by the sugar beet companies” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Solstice
Today is the solstice. It is the end of 2025. The Julian calendar says that the end of the year is in another 10 days. One of the jobs for today is to put out my Solstice meme. This is the second year that I have done this. I have spent the week working on it, and have chosen a winner. I need to work on it a bit, and make sure I’m using the right font.
The winner is the picture of a Warrior Princess on a building in Little Five Points. I’ve been trying to find the original. Unfortunately, my record keeping is a mess. It is causing brain damage to find this thing. One of the problems is One Drive, the microsoft cloud. When I transfer files from one machine to another, the od sometimes loses the files. The original is in there somewhere.
The image was used in poem q007, Poetry Is Part Three. The line was “Masked And Made Flesh In Writing.” PIPT was something I found on twitter. People were trying to define poetry … a lost cause … and came up with some lines describing poetry. It was the raw material for a poem.
The Warrior Princess was chosen for the background. Then it came time to try out the fonts and color schemes. Black and white Comic Sans was the font. The inside of the letters was going to be dark gray, hexcode a0a0a0. The fence is going to be on the right side of the Warrior Princess. In real life, the Warrior Princess is at the far left end of the building next to a fence, with greenery growing in the barbed wire. Because this is a fantasy we’re going to put the fence on the right side.
The picture was taken April 7th at 1910. I was going to the Little 5 Poetry Bash. I got there early and went around taking pictures of graffiti. The Warrior Princess was in back of one of the theater buildings … probably not rag-a-rama, probably the one that has the Variety Playhouse, and not the one with 7 Stages. Whichever one it is, you have to pay to park there
Most of the other pics are from the The Library of Congress. I only have the details for one. … John Vachon took the picture in November 1938. “These men are both past sixty. Neither of them expect ever to work again. They ride freight trains from Omaha to Kansas City to St. Louis and back again. Omaha, Nebraska”. The other color image is from the Chalktoberfest. This event is held in Marietta, on the same day as the Pride parade downtown.
The Machine
This content was posted December 20, 2019. … Today is the first full day with the machine back. It went down wednesday morning. Thirty six hours later, I got it back. A new hard drive is like having a new machine, except that the documents, on a separate hard drive, are intact. Getting a new machine is always an adventure. Some things don’t work like they did before. I still don’t have everything going like I like, and may never.
It is early morning. Today is the day before solstice, the end of the year. Where does this year end find me, 65 plus years into my life? In some ways, I struggle. In some ways, I am doing well. I woke up, and was able to walk. There was food in the kitchen. The roof over my head does not leak. There is a machine to work, and play, with. The last item has been a part of the game for 20 years now.
Yesterday, I did not pay attention to the news. I heard something about an impeachment, which I have little good to say about. There was another item on facebook. A writer put a comment up on twitter yesterday. The writer follows 666 people, which may be intentional.
@jk_rowling “Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill.”
“We’ve watched her dance around it for a while, but JK Rowling has officially spoken her anti-trans stance, as she denies the existence of trans people and actively supports an employee (Maya Forstater) who was fired from her job for her aggressive and public anti-trans stance. I will no longer be engaging with Rowling or her products. Below is a screenshot I personally took from her Twitter profile (i.e. unfaked).”
Maya Forstater was fired from a government job for expressing opinions about trans women. It is not known whether these opinions affected her job performance. If the reader is interested, they can google Maya Forstater, and find out more. One slack blogger is not interested. I am not a Harry Potter fan (a potterhead.) I am not worried about “the fact that the widely beloved author could maintain such problematic beliefs.”
When you set up a new machine, there are unexpected challenges. All the pages looked stretched out. I was getting a headache. Then I looked at the resolution. The monitor is 1920 x 1080. For some reason, the machine was set to 1280 x 1024. This is why everything was stretched out. This was one of the easier problems to resolve.
After dinner, it was time to install GIMP. This is the one program I cannot do without. It was not a smooth process. First, I installed the latest, and greatest, version. I started to install the keyboard shortcuts. Many features had moved. I had to type in every feature to install the new shortcut.
Then I got to edit – fade. This is a feature I use a great deal. It was not included on the LG version. After searching high and low, I decided to uninstall, and try an earlier version. The first one I tried did not have fade. Finally, I went back to the version that I had been using, before the crash.
To try this out, I decided to do a poem, using fade. First, I had to create the text. To do this meant clicking on Bookman Old Style, the font I enjoy using. Unfortunately, this font was not on the new hard drive. I found a copy of BOS online, and installed it on the machine. It works for WordPad, but not for GIMP. I decided to use Georgia as a substitute. Finally, I was able to get a photo to look like I want, using fade. At this time, I am ready to post this story, and move on with my day. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in November 1938. “Saloon Omaha, Nebraska ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Cynic
This content was published December 17, 2023. … “A cynic is a man who knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” ― Oscar Wilde. This quote is one of Oscar’s greatest hits. If you think about it for a minute, it is not totally accurate. You are not supposed to think. Quoting Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde is about sounding clever, not making sense.
Oscar Wilde is a quote magnet. This is more than something you put on your refrigerator. When people hear something clever, odds are good that Oscar will get the blame. As Dorothy Parker wrote: “If, with the literate, I am, Impelled to try an epigram, I never seek to take the credit; We all assume that Oscar said it. [Life Magazine, June 2, 1927]”
Wikiquote says this line is from Act III of Lady Windermere’s Fan. It was spoken by Lord Darlington. Did the playwright intend for the line to be taken seriously, or was he making the character look foolish by saying it? With Oscar, it could be both of these things at the same time.
Principle Four, of the four principles of quotations, reads “Only quote from works that you have read.” In the case of Lady Windemere’s Fan, this would mean a youtube video of the play. There is an indy movie available. You don’t have to watch the cell phone recording of high school players.
Lady Windemere’s Fan is a production where upper class Brits say clever things in glorious costumes. Nobody ever goes to the bathroom, or looks less than perfect. Lady Windemere’s six month old child is neither seen, nor heard. Lady Windemere finds out her husband, Lord Windemere, is having an affair with Mrs. Erlynne. The Lord proceeds to invite the floozy to Lady Windemere’s birthday party.
After the party, the men go to their club, then to Lord Darlington’s room. There are five men in the conversation, beginning with Lord Windemere. Lord Darlington has just told Lady Windemere that he loves her, and wants her to run off with him. Lady Windemere said no. Lord Augustus is a suitor of Mrs. Erlynne, and is begging her to marry him. Mr. Dumby and Cecil Graham wear their splendid costumes with conviction.
The scene starts with the men saying clever things, most of them insulting to someone. Lord Augustus, or Tuppy, is the butt of many jokes. Before long, we get this exchange:
Mr. Dumby I don’t think we are bad. I think we are all good, except Tuppy.
Lord Darlington No, we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Mr. Dumby We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars? Upon my word, you are very romantic to-night, Darlington.
Cecil Graham Too romantic! You must be in love. Who is the girl?
Lord Darlington The woman I love is not free, or thinks she isn’t. [Glances instinctively at Lord Windermere while he speaks.]
A few minutes later, we hear another famous Oscarism.
Lord Darlington What cynics you fellows are!
Cecil Graham What is a cynic? [Sitting on the back of the sofa.]
Lord Darlington A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Cecil Graham And a sentimentalist, my dear Darlington, is a man who sees an absurd value in everything, and doesn’t know the market price of any single thing. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Arthur Rothstein took the social media picture in February 1942. “Brownsville, Texas. Charro Days fiesta. Dance for enlisted men” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
I Find It Unproductive
I was trying to wake up this morning. I put on a YouTube video by James Li, Erika Kirk: Deleted Tweets & Secret Past Exposed. Erica Kirk is a piece of work. The story has a segment from her recent “Town Hall” with Bari Weiss.
The former Erika Frantzve was talking about her life in New York, before she met Charlie. “I was here for 5 years. I never dated here cuz I saw vicariously through my roommate how terrible it was. Somehow getting drinks was the replacement of having coffee and breakfast. I personally would rather have coffee or brunch with someone than going I just don’t drink. I find it unproductive. Not because I’m holier than whatever. I just don’t operate that way. But I always thought it was very strange how she would go to drinks with one guy, and then go to dinner with another. So it goes twofold here. So if you’re expecting to marry someone that I was blessed with, like a Charlie, you have to be the type of woman that will attract a Charlie. Are you going to church? Are you going to Bible study? Did you tell your pastor that you are ready for the Lord to bring into your life the man that you’ve been praying for? You yourself need to be prepared for that man.”
A pretty woman says she did not date, before meeting her perfect Christian husband. This is the internet equivalent of waving a red flag in front of a bull. A few seconds of googling turned up two articles about previous boyfriends. James Li found some images of Erika’s pre-Charlie social life. “Here is a photo that the internet sleuth dug up from September of 2017 with one Cabot Phillips. And the caption says, “Yes, we’re that couple who gets painting lessons together.” The @cabot_phillips profile reads “Senior Editor at @realDailyWire. Jesus Follower, Husband, Father.”
Li also had pictures of Erika holding a wine glass, noting that “She did really enjoy posing with alcoholic beverages.” This led Li to this quote: “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with the important matters. Albert Einstein.”
The Einstein wikiquote supplies a source. “(1955) as quoted in Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives (1997) ed. Gerald Holton, Yehuda Elkana, p. 388, from The Centennial Symposium in Jerusalem (1979)” Having a fake quote, about telling the truth, would be too much irony for one day.
There is one more quote from the Bari Weiss gabfest. “We’ve been to Israel twice together. And to be able to walk in the place where our Lord walked and see the Bible come to life in technicolor. How could you hate that place?” Many of the places where Jesus lived were in the West Bank. Is Erika saying that the brutal apartheid on the West Bank is “the Bible come to life in technicolor”? … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Fritz Henle took the social media picture in November 1942. “Nurse training. Student nurses may often assist doctors at operations, but a specially trained anaesthetist must give the anaesthetic” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Ticking Time Bomb
This content was posted December 24, 2008. … Vanity Fair has a good story about torture. This is one part of the Bush regime that has brought a lot of criticism. The focus of the article is not morals, or whether torture is justified. The thrust of the article is whether or not torture gets good information. On this issue, there seems to be a lot of macho posturing, and talk show hosts who think that torturing the bad guys is a great idea. Many in the intelligence community have a different opinion.
The ticking bomb scenario gets a rundown. You have heard this scenario. A terror suspect is arrested, and knows where the nuke is planted. Is torture justified to disarm the device? “Inside the C.I.A., says a retired senior officer who was privy to the agency’s internal debate, there was hardly any argument about the value of coercive methods: “Nobody in intelligence believes in the ticking bomb. It’s just a way of framing the debate for public consumption. That is not an intelligence reality.”
There is also the concept that men who are being tortured will say anything to make the suffering stop. What they tell you is not always the truth. Also, when a man is captured, the plans are going to change. … Several high profile cases are discussed. One was a person, who apparently was a greeter at a safe house for Al Queda. Our forces got the idea that he was important, and, after “extraordinary interrogation”, he confessed to a connection between Pre-invasion Iraq and Al Queda. This was one of the arguments that was used to promote the invasion.
There is going to be a new man in the white house soon. How he deals with the torture issue (and the erosion of the rights of American Citizens) remains to be seen. BHO seems to stick his finger in the air before making a decision, and to see what political advantage can be made. The recent episode with Slick Rick Warren is a good example. America and the world is waiting to see what happens.
This content was posted December 19, 2008. … A great deal has been said recently about BHO and his choice of a player pray-er for the inauguration. … A bit of perspective is in order. BHO has been dogged by rumors that he is a Muslim. He claimed as his “spiritual mentor” a man who entertains his church by screaming rude things about the United States. When it was no longer to his advantage to associate with Jeremiah Wright, BHO dumped him, and won the election.
It is time for his inauguration. He chooses Rick Warren to offer a prayer. Rick rhymes with slick. He has built an empire church, sold millions of books, and is frequently photographed without a tie. He condemned gay marriage, and told a few lies in the process. His choice as the First Pray-er is rather controversial. … Very few seem to think about Jesus. What sort of statement does Rick Warren praying for BHO make about Jesus? … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Fritz Henle took the social media picture in November 1942. “Nurse training. A student nurse stands by ready to assist the doctor as he changes a metal tube in a patient’s throat (patient is suffering from inflammation of trachea caused by diptheria or other diseases)” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
Milo Yiannopoulos Today
This content was originally published December 29, 2017. … Milo Yiannopoulos is getting attention again. It seems as though the the editor’s notes for his book have been leaked to the press. Many of the comments are unkind. If you have ever wanted to see bad writing dissected and disemboweled, this is the time. PuffHo has a helpful list of some of the zingers. “Can you really prove a causality between [Black Lives Matter] and crime rate?” “DELETE UGH.”
Milo did not actually write Dangerous. Miloproduct is produced by a crew of interns. One of these drones got in trouble: Milo Yiannopoulos Speaks Out About ‘Bonkers’ Former Intern Arrested for Murdering Dad. Who gets the copyright credit for Dangerous? That might be a good trivia question.
@DALIAMALEK “… Look at the witty editor that worked to normalize white supremacy” Some people think Milo’s book was cancelled for being politically incorrect. Actually, the deal was trashed after Milo opened his mouth once too often, and became too controversial.
Simon & Schuster is not opposed to selling bad books to make money. In 1981, S&S published HOW TO STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS— AND WIN! This tome was written by Roy Cohn. The NYT review notes “Despite his reputation as a playboy bachelor, Mr. Cohn believes that a marriage should be ”kept intact” if there are children.”
Chamblee54 has written about whatshisname one two three four five six seven times. The pictures are usually better than the text. In one episode, Bill Maher said “Stop looking at the distractions and the clown show and look at what matters.” Then, without a trace of embarrassment, Mr. Maher introduced Milo, who is both distraction, and clown show. (The headline for the linked article: “Bill Maher: Trump and Russia Is ‘Worst Political Scandal in American History’.” That did not age well.)
The first time chamblee54 wrote about Milo had a prophetic quote. “This is the first time many have heard of Milo Yiannopoulos. Unfortunately, it probably will not be the last. He authored a piece at Breitbart, where he said “… Only by totally ignoring people’s feelings can we end the left’s culture of grievance, offense, and victimhood. …”
Many of the naysayers are calling Milo, and his product, racist. This is a reflex action to many SJW, who seldom miss an opportunity to scream racism. The ironic thing is that Milo talks loudly, and often, about his fondness for black men. On page 96, Milo says “”I love black people. Indeed, I love black people so much that my Grindr profile once said “No Whites.” I’d considered “Coloreds Only Served in Rear,” but that was a little too edgy, and Grindr once deleted my profile once for writing: “Don’t contact me if you’re under seven inches or you know who your dad is.”
Hopefully, Milo’s fifteen minutes will be over soon. … This content was recycled December 7, 2023. This was the 2023 update: If you ask google what Milo Yiannopoulos is doing today, you see that he is an intern for Marjorie Taylor Greene. In 2021, LifeSiteNews reported “Milo Yiannopoulos, the gay man whose conservative messaging and willingness to speak the truth sparked riots on university campuses may well trigger more outrage now that he describes himself as “Ex-Gay” and “sodomy free,” and is leading a daily consecration to St. Joseph online.” Google does not have a search result for the “daily consecration to St. Joseph online.”
In 2025, Milo appeared on Tucker Carlson, saying that “mainstreaming homosexuality in the Republican party is the great regret of my life.” “Yiannopoulos, who has described himself as “ex-gay” since 2021, repeated claims that sexual orientation is not real and promoted conversion therapy.” On X,
@Nero frequently attacks @NickJFuentes, who also says he is not gay. … Pictures today are from Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library. The social media picture was taken April 28, 1964. “Building at Auburn and Piedmont (Mitchell’s Place tavern and Royal Apartments)” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah
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