Is Prayer That Great?

Prayer is not always a good idea.
That is up there with G-d and Motherhood, but somebody has to say it.
Many of my objections are in the phrase, “Prayer is talking to G-d, and Meditation is Listening.”. In our culture, we love to talk, and don’t have time to listen. Talking is yang, active, power. Listening is ying,receptive, passive, and indicates respect for the person you are paying attention to. This is difficult for many.
Of course, no one ever says “I am going to meditate for you”. Although maybe you should.
Prayer is used as an aggressive weapon. “I am going to pray for you” is the condescending conclusion of many a religious argument. I have had it shouted at me like a curse.
There is the matter of prayer as entertainment. While this may be cool to those who are on the program, it can be repulsive to others. Once I volunteered to lead the prayer before a dinner. The story is repeated below.
Now, prayer is not a completely bad thing. One of the cherished memories of my father is the brief, commonsense blessings he would give before meals. In the context of a church service, prayer plays a useful function. Some famous prayers are beautiful poetry. In Islam, the daily prayers are an important part of the observance. Who am I to say it is wrong? (A note to the Muslim haters, and opportunistic republicans …We are all G-d’s children.)
When someone is in a bad way, people want to think they can help. Arguably it does not hurt to pray for someone, but it is nothing to boast about.
My problem is when people are proud of their prayers. There are few as prideful as a “humble servant”. While it may mean something to you, not everyone is impressed. And in a religion obsessed with converting others, you should care what man thinks.

So much for world affairs. It is time to tell a story, with no moral and no redeeming social value.
In 1980, I was staying at a place called the Sea Haven Hostel, affectionately known as Sleaze Haven. This was in Seattle WA, as far as you can get from Atlanta, and still be in the lower 48. I was working through Manpower, and staying in a semi private room for $68 a month.
There was a Christian group that met in the basement on Sunday Night. Now, as some of you may know, I am a recovering baptist, who hasn’t been to church since 1971. However, the lure of a free meal was hard to resist, so I went to a few meetings.
One night, after doing quality control work on the local beer supply,I cheerfully joined in the discussion. This was the night when I realized that the Bible is not the Word of G-d. This concept has been very handy in dealing with the clumsy efforts of our Jesus-mad culture to convert me.
They seemed to like me, though, and welcomed me back. Maybe it was the southern accent.
One Sunday, after the dinner was finished , it was time to have a prayer to begin the meeting. I raised my hand.Now, Jesus Worshipers enjoy prayer as entertainment. When they bow their heads, you see them stretching and deep breathing, in anticipation of a good, lengthy, message to G-d.
My message was a bit of a disappointment. Instead of a long winded lecture about Jesus and the magic book, I said what was on my mind. “Lord, thank you for letting us be here today.” What else do you need to say? This double repost has pictures from The Library of Congress.

How To Talk To R*****S

The New York Times is continuing the slow news day tradition of publishing clickbait content about race. The piece in question is How to Talk to a Racist. If you want to read this feature without interference from the NYT paywall, go here.
The article is useless. Twitter has people sharing the link. Clever people answer the question, how to talk to a racist, with one word: don’t. PG had too much free time, and read some of the comments. A thought came through. With all of this talk about talk, does anyone say anything about listening? As it turns out, the article does. Towards the end of the piece, we see this: “They’ll listen to what you have to say if they trust you’ll listen to what they have to say back.” This is an optimistic approach.
The next paragraph is where this feature begins to wrap things up, in anticipation of the ending. There is an 83 word sentence. “When you encounter a person who believes he’s merely honoring his ancestors by driving a car with an image of the Confederate battle flag on the tag, when a Facebook friend announces that it’s disrespectful to take a knee during the national anthem, when you sit down next to someone at the church picnic who genuinely loves and respects the black people they know but who consistently votes for politicians with overtly racist policies, stop for just a moment and take a breath.” Racist or woke, that sentence is a grammar nightmare.
The first example is “a person who believes he’s merely honoring his ancestors by driving a car with an image of the Confederate battle flag on the tag.” This person paid extra money to have a status license plate with the Stars and Bars. He may be honoring his ancestors, which is not a crime, yet. He may be giving the finger to uppity liberals, like @MargaretRenkl, author of the NYT piece. He might be a genuine white supremacist, and is advertising this attitude in hope of starting trouble. It is unlikely that most people will have much contact with him, except for seeing the license plate in traffic. Maybe the state agency raising money this way should be challenged.
The second example is “when a Facebook friend announces that it’s disrespectful to take a knee during the national anthem.” Holy red herring. A washed up quarterback does not stand for the national anthem. A orange haired politician makes political hay. Millions of football fans are offended when their ritual patriotism is not performed properly. Since Colin Kaepernick, presumably, had a black bio-dad, this is now racism. This issue is a waste of our national energy. It will have no impact, whatsoever, on the police brutality it purports to protest.
The third example is “when you sit down next to someone at the church picnic who genuinely loves and respects the black people they know but who consistently votes for politicians with overtly racist policies.” (The article has a subtle Christian slant, with a reminder to “Think of the plank in your own eye.”) Why are you talking about politicians at a church picnic anyway? What are the “overtly racist policies?” Who was the opponent? Maybe both candidates had “overtly racist policies,” as well as covertly crooked campaign financing. You are going to do a lot of breathing.
This post has gone on long enough. If you want to hear snarky comments about how yukky racists are, go online 24/7. If you want to learn how to talk to racists, or better yet, how to shut up and listen, google might be of some assistance. Or maybe not. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.

A Sociologist Examines

writing prompt ~ Episode 32 – Abandoning We For I With Henry Rollins ~ more blackout poems ~ curateatl ~ Dunwoody seeks to protect trees in stream buffer ~ A Brief History of Forgotten Queer Political Action ~ jason spencer ~ @Kimzolciak Tweet me questions now for my podcast use #kzbpodcast ~ @chamblee54 What are your preferred pronouns? ~ @chamblee54 .@billscher you talk about @SachaBaronCohen before the latest episode I wonder why SBC is praised for broadcasting the Nword, when for so many others this is career suicide stay tuned In other news .@mattklewis is evolving with the glasses & older man look @DamienKittens He didn’t say it like the others did. You’re stretching to justify racism. @chamblee54 No you are stretching to justify racism. If hearing the magic word is so bad, what difference does it make whose mouth it comes out of? ~ Please Stop Sharing Bad Articles ~ white fragility ~ steve deace ~ David Yaffe on reporting a biography of Joni Mitchell ~ Why Black Lives Matter: Cincinnati Is Changing Its Name ~ The social media we rely upon is killing us ~ A Sociologist Examines the “White Fragility” That Prevents White Americans from Confronting Racism ~ @bunnyBISOUS ~ Atlanta Disco Society: Live From The Basement ~ Gay Atlanta couple at center of GOP gov’s race controversy ~ The Melting Pot ~ creative loafing ~ White man enters Starbucks, identifies himself as black, free drink offered (not accepted). ~ The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News ~ @chamblee54 .@robertwrighter .@EliLake its MY thought experiment a pneumatic staple gun is much better for attaching jello to a wall ~ .@robertwrighter 1 Did DJT really believe birther talk, or was it an attention getting device? 2 While talking about the damage done by DJT trashing Mexicans, remember damage done by *liberals* with their trash talk about so called racists. 3 concept of .@EliLake meditating? ~ Hugo Award-Winning Author N. K. Jemisin Explains Why Bigots Are Bad at Writing ~ @ryduhh lmao I love it when old white men make politically irrelevant facebook comments and then you trash them and block them shortly after just to have them follow you on twitter as if thats not highly aggressive behavior ~ @AgathaChocolats In six words or fewer, write a story about this photo. ~ This is a conversation I had with socialists yesterday. This is just one group of people, and does not represent socialists as a whole These people are idiots. If this is what socialism is about, they are hopeless ~ How to Use Your White Privilege the Right Way ~ American white people really hate being called “white people” ~ Spoken Word: Featuring Shay Alexi and Chris Fontes ~ Ving Rhames on His Experience with Racism ~ Ving Rhames Says Police Held Him At Gunpoint In His Own Home After Neighbor Reported Robbery ~ stacey abrams ~ A Black Feminist Rant to “Allies” Seeking “Dialogue” in Precarious Times ~ Eminem Tells You What Not To Rhyme ~ White Fox News Guest: ‘There’s Nothing Worse Than Being Called A Racist’ ~ Ok .@SachaBaronCohen got a georgia politician to act like a fool That is sooooo hard to do Maybe Mr. Cohen is the one who should be Roseanned off the air right now for broadcasting the spectacle ~ Do you have a problem with @Showtime for airing this episode? #WhoIsAmerica and .@SachaBaronCohen need to be condemned and Roseanned off the air. ~ If you see that a discussion is becoming toxic, you can stay out of it. If you choose to participate, you can realize that the person you are trashing is a human being. This person deserves compassion and respect, even while expressing an opinion that troubles you. ~ @RuPaul To thine own selfie be true. ~ you sure to like to say racist you are telling on yourself you are just like a closet case that calls everyone else faggot, so they won’t think that he is gay instead, you say racist all the time to take attention away from your race problem ~ KimKierkegaardashian @KimKierkegaard Despite what you’ve heard, I’m not ‘Becky with the good hair.’ I am Kim with the tangled soul. ~ @Kimzolciak Tweet me questions now for my podcast use #kzbpodcast @chamblee54 What are your preferred pronouns? ~ @TheSandman8388 If you leave piss on the toilet seat in a public bathroom, I hope a ravenous creature eats your balls. If i ace this math exam, I’m a facking genius I just heard some dude watching cartoons on his phone whilst taking a shit. Classy. I work well under pressure as long as I like what I am doing. Cities are fancy landfills. People who cause unnecessary congestion should get euthanized out of common courtesy. Dick is the pacifier of hoes. ~ @Ange_Amene The Expulsion of racists and bigots from the Democratic party is a GOOD thing. It shows progress, growth and boundaries. The Democratic coalition should not include deplorable people. @chamblee54 A lady said to Adlai Stevenson, you have the support of every thinking person. Mr. Stevenson replied, thank you, but I need a majority to win A winning candidate needs the support of as many people as possible. You cannot tell people to go elsewhere bc you don’t like them @jessicadroeger OMFG – I believe you just told a WOC that we should allow racists to dictate the Dem Party platform. You need to take ALL the seats and shut your mouth. @chamblee54 No that is not what I said. I just said that Democrats should not be so picky about who they allow to vote for their candidates @jessicadroeger One more time – no one is preventing anyone from voting for Democrats (other than the GOP but that’s a different discussion). We’re saying no one is going to change the platform of the party or do anything to appease racists in order to get their votes. Get it? @chamblee54 You need to have a firm definition of what a racist is for this to work. How hard a line are you going to have? Ask 10 people what a racist is and you get 11 definitions. What is appeasing racists to one person is common sense alliance building to another @jessicadroeger Appeasing racists is not something I will ever do and for sure not in the name of “alliance building.” Here’s the on,y definition you need. @chamblee54 By that definition most of African America is racist @jessicadroeger Racism requires a combination of belief in the superiority of your own race AND the power to create policy/laws to benefit your own race. There is no such thing as reverse racism. Maybe the paper bag in your profile picture is meant to hide the white sheet over your face? @chamblee54 iow the first definition is not sufficient, and must be amended why do you assume I am white? You are blocked from following @Ange_Amene and viewing @Ange_Amene’s Tweets. ~ pictures today are from The Library of Congress. ~ selah

All Under Sin

No Doubt

The Worst Vice Presidents Of The United States

PG wrote a post yesterday. One of the topics was the “Siamese Twins”, James Buchanan and William Rufus King. (The article is reposted below.) While researching the feature, PG googled his way to a Time magazine article about the Worst Vice Presidents in American History. PG is well known for his negative attitude, and writing about the worst things in life always appeals to him. This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress
The first name on the list is Aaron Burr. He had a problem with Alexander Hamilton, and shot him dead in a duel. Elbridge Gerry (the namesake of Gerrymandering) served under James Madison for twenty months, and died. John C. Calhoun served under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, and managed to get Mr. Jackson so upset that Mr. Calhoun was fired.
Richard M. Johnson served under Martin Van Buren, and was bad at PR. “Johnson scandalized his colleagues by taking one of his slaves as his common-law wife; as a result, he barely garnered enough support to serve in Martin van Buren’s administration. While in office, he proposed an expedition to the North Pole so Americans could drill to the center of the Earth, believing the planet was hollow (his resolution was defeated). Evidently van Buren’s experience with Johnson soured him on vice presidents altogether — when he ran for re-election he dropped Johnson from his ticket and didn’t bother replacing him. Instead, he ran alone.”
William Rufus King was VP under Franklin Pierce a mere six weeks before he died. There is no word on the status of his relationship with James Buchanan at the time. The Time magazine article has a picture of Fernando Wood , which was mistakenly thought to be of Mr. King. (Wikipedia uses the same picture to illustrate an article about Mr. King.)
The VP under James Buchanan (there is no word on who was top or bottom in the Buchanan-King household) was John Breckinridge. During the War Between the States, he left the Union to fight for the Confederacy. Mr. Breckinridge was charged with treason after the war. “The town of Breckenridge, Colorado is named in his honor — although it altered the spelling of its name after the Civil War, so as not to be associated with a traitor.”
Andrew Johnson did not make the list, but maybe should have. He was drunk at his inauguration, and made a fool of himself. Mr. Lincoln had nothing to do with him, until a meeting on April 14. This was Good Friday. Mr. Lincoln went to the theater that night.
Johnson had been marked for death by the conspiracy, but Wilkes Booth had little confidence in the man assigned to kill Mr. Johnson. The afternoon of the assassination, Mr. Booth was at the Kirkwood House, where Mr. Johnson stayed. Mr. Booth left a note for Mr. Johnson at the desk of the hotel… “Don’t wish to disturb you. Are you at home. J. Wilkes Booth”. The idea was for the police to find the note, and implicate Mr. Johnson in the killing of Mr. Lincoln. This mini plot was spoiled by the secretary for the Vice President, who collected the mail that afternoon. He took the card with him. The secretary had met Mr. Booth a few years earlier, and thought the note was for him.
The other three Vice Presidents who took office after the boss was murdered… Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson… were not mentioned in the Time article. All three are mentioned in conspiracy theories about the killings that promoted them into office.
When Theodore Roosevelt was elected to a full term as President, his VP was Charles Fairbanks. “Teddy once ordered a noisy and distracting crystal chandelier removed from his office because it disturbed him. He ordered it to be installed in the office of the Vice President to keep him awake.”
Getting back to Time’s honor roll, Hannibal Hamlin was Lincoln’s first VP. Thomas A. Hendricks survived nine months under Grover Cleveland, before passing away. Thomas Marshall served two terms with Woodrow Wilson, and refused to take over the office when Mr. Wilson had a stroke. Calvin Coolidge did little while waiting for Warren Harding to die. Henry Wallace was, and will be, the only third term VP in our history. He acquired a few enemies, and was replaced by Harry Truman.
Richard Nixon was ok once he got elected, but almost managed to blow that. There were charges of financial shenanigans, and some thought he should be kicked off the ticket. After the Checkers Speech he was on his way to stardom. (After Mr. Nixon died, PG saw a large flag flying at half staff. The flag belonged to a hamburger chain called Checkers.) When Mr. Nixon became President, his VP was Spiro Agnew. Once again, there were charges of financial shenanigans, and much, much more. While the nation wallowed in Watergate, Mr. Nixon needed a diversion. It was suddenly discovered that Mr. Agnew had taken bribes. He was pressured into resigning.
Dan Quayle was VP for George H.W. Bush. He was widely regarded as an idiot, although his damage as VP was minimal. The last VPOTUS on the list is Dick Chaney. For some reason, he was regarded as having more power than the President, George W. Bush. Mr. Chaney was said to be one of the major promoters of the wars which have damaged America so much during the last ten years.
2018 UPDATE: Joe Biden said the F word at a press conference, and did not run for President when Barry retired. The jury is still out on Mike Pence.

Fun loving Dick Yarbrough is up to his old tricks. The neighbor newspaper nabbler penned a post about California education. . It seems there is a new law, in the falling into the ocean state, “that will require schools to teach at all grade levels about the historical contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.” Our buddy does not think this is a good idea.
The story goes on to say “Our children will find out that President James Buchanan and Vice President William R. King were more than, shall we say, good friends,” she said coyly. I didn’t want to tell Gay that the first thing the teachers need to do is tell the students who James Buchanan is before they talk about what he did. Not many people have ever heard of him. That is because he didn’t do anything while president.” Holy historic revisionism.
To start off, The Vice Prez under Mr. Buchanan was John C. Breckinridge. Mr. King was elected to back up Franklin Pierce. Mr. King died after six weeks in office. If a President has ever bumped gooberheads with his Vice President, the walls of the White House have kept quiet about it. Those rumors about John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson are too gruesome to contemplate.
Mr. King and Mr. Buchanan lived together for a number of years. Neither was married to a female, although Mr. Buchanan had been engaged. (There is speculation that his fiance’, Ann Caroline Coleman, died of an overdose of laudanum.) There are numerous indications that Mr. King and Mr. Buchanan were *good buddies*.
Mr. Buchanan was the last President before the War Between the States. It is possible that he could not have done much to prevent that unpleasantness. Historians are not kind when talking about the man, and rank him as one of the worst Presidents. Perhaps Mr. King could have helped.
The newspaper that Mr. Yarbrough opines for is delivered, free of charge, on Wednesday. (This weeks edition has not arrived. Any connection between this late delivery and the opinions of Mr. Yarbrough, is uncertain.) Some of these free papers are not taken inside by the resident. Often, a driveway will have several weeks of free adrags left behind. Soon, the rain soaks these newsprint droppings. Some are washed into the street and run over. The result is an ugly mess.
Chamblee54 had a previous discussion with Dick Yarbrough. Mr. Yarbrough is still publishing columns in 2018. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

Politically Relevant

A facebook friend shared a post. “i don’t really believe in engaging in electoral politics all that much but would everyone please vote for Stacey Abrams so the material conditions of myself and many of my friends doesn’t get immediately worse if Kemp is elected? like i’m really asking for all my radicalized georgians here to get registered and show up to vote this ONE TIME!!!! like as a personal favor to me. i’m really open to talking about this if you’re unconvinced, and people do deserve the right to abstain! i support you! but also we have to survive long enough to organize ffs”
The discussion that followed is presented below. Names of the other players are replaced by numbers. You should never wrestle with a hog. You will get dirty, and the pig will enjoy himself.
Luther Mckinnon Are the supporters of Miss Abrams going to try to shout down Mr. Kemp,
like they did Mrs. Evans?
@001 Of course! Every damn day.
@002 That’s a really weird point to get hung up on. But hey. Shouting down Kemp is a very fine idea and I am sure you will be joining us, right Luther?
Luther Mckinnon That would guarantee a victory for Mr. Kemp
@003 Abrams supporters didn’t shout down Evans.
Luther Mckinnon Somebody did shout down Mrs. Evans, and Miss Abrams defended them.
@003 Because she defends “freedom of speech,” and because Evans also needed to be held accountable. But she had a good point, why are you hung up on that?
Luther Mckinnon Because this is how mob rule works. Democrats will make excuses for this sorry behavior, but Republicans and Independents will not. If you want to hand Mr. Kemp a victory, then go ahead with your playground tactics.
@003 What are you even talking about
@003 You don’t even know what happened and you’re so defensive.
Go out and canvass if you’re so upset.
Luther Mckinnon Stacey And Stacey
@003 Sorry, I’m not familiar with the reputable source “chambles54.wordpress”
@003 But it’s okay, you’re still upset at Abrams for whatever reason, let’s pretend that won’t make people vote for Kemp, good day sir
Luther Mckinnon Click on the link, and learn about the incident.
@003 Lol, I did click the link, the bright colors of the font threw me off, and I am very familiar with the incident.Again, have a good one
@004 Ugh log off Luther
@004 Old white dudes politically relevant? Not on my watch
Miss Abrams did support people who shouted down her opponent in August 2017. What would happen if white republicans sent a mob to shout down a speech by Miss Abrams? How would republicans react to a mob shouting down Brian Kemp? Would the republicans send security officers to forcibly break up the shouting? This business of shouting down your opponent could get ugly fast. Miss Abrams expressed support of the mob shouting down Stacey Evans. Miss Abrams also played a role in the 1992 riots, after the Rodney King verdict was announced.
Brian Kemp has a lot of shortcomings, and would probably make a bad Governor. If Stacey Abrams runs a playground campaign, as some of her supporters want, then Mr. Kemp is almost guaranteed a win. In the general election, old white dudes are politically relevant. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. “At the May Day pageant in Siloam, Greene County, Georgia” Jack Delano, photographer, 1941 May. UPDATE: More posts were made after this feature was published.
@004 Did you just call us pigs in your horribly designed blog
@004 Kemp is a shitheaded racist who engages in overt voter suppression
I really don’t think you get to tell people how to treat him
Luther Mckinnon You can’t make this up.

Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell

A few weeks ago, PG was at the library. He had a story to take home, before going over to the biography section. There he found Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell. At least with fiction, you know you are dealing with a made up story. With biography, you have to use judgment.
It is a familiar story. Joni was born in the frozen north, was a rebellious girl, and got pregnant. She gave up the daughter for adoption, only to be reunited many years later. Joan Anderson gets married to, and divorces, Chuck Mitchell. Joni sings, writes, tunes her guitar funny, becomes a star, gets too weird to be popular, makes and loses money, smokes millions of cigarettes, and becomes an angry old lady. There is a bit more to the story than that. Reckless Daughter fills in a few of the blank spots.
Millions of cigarettes might be an exaggeration. Joni started smoking when she was nine. When she was a star, she was almost as well known for her constant puffing as her pretty songs. When Joni was in a Reagan era slump, she was going through four packs a day. Just for the sake of statistics, lets call it two packs, or forty fags, a day. Multiply forty by 365 and you get 14,600. If she started at 9, and had her aneurysm at 72, that gives you 63 years of nicotine abuse. If you assume that there were forty fags a day for 63 years, that gives you 919,800 smokes. IOW, while seven figures is not out of reach, it is rather unlikely that Joni smoked more than 2,000,000 cancer sticks.
The author of Reckless Daughter, David Yaffe, is a problem. He talks about the mood of America in 1969, four years before he was born. Mr. Yaffe goes to great lengths to show us that he knows about making music. Some readers will be impressed. There are mini-essays on Joni songs from her golden years, the time between “Ladies of the Canyon” and “Hejira.” And gossip, gossip, and more gossip. Joni is well known for her celebrity lovers.
We should make the point that PG enjoyed Reckless Daughter. The inside stories are fun, and pages turn over without too much head scratching. Maybe this is a statement about the career of Joni Mitchell. You enjoy the music for many years, and then complain about the details. Reckless Daughter follows the trajectory of other celebrity biographies. The star is born, takes up a craft, gets a break, becomes successful, goes over the mountaintop into a long decline. With Joni, nothing after “Mingus” was well received. The chanteuse was broker, and angrier, by the minute.
On page 13, Joni hears Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff. This is the piece that makes her want to be a musician. One page 129, we learn the story of A&M studios in Hollywood. At one time, The Carpenters were in studio A, while Carole King was recording “Tapestry” in studio B. Joni was recording “Blue” in studio C, which had a magic piano. One time, Carole King learned of a break in the studio C booking, and ran in. Three hours later, “I feel the earth move” was recorded.
A few years later, Joni was on the Rolling Thunder tour with Bob Dylan. One of the concepts was support for Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, whose story can be found elsewhere. Joni became disillusioned with Mr. Carter. When Joan Baez asked Joni to speak at a benefit concert, Joni said she would say that Mr. Carter was a jive ass N-person, who never would have been champion of the world. Joni later got in SJW trouble for posing in blackface, for the cover to “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter.”
On page 251, we learn that Bob Dylan does not dance. Other items include “Free man in Paris” being written about David Geffen, and Jackson Browne writing “Fountain of Sorrow” about Joni. Mr. Brown is a not-well-thought-of ex of Joni. As for Mr. Geffen…. Joni stayed at his house for a while, at a time when Mr. Geffen was in, and out, of the closet. Did they make sweet music together?
So this book report comes to an end. Joni is recovering from a brain aneurysm, and will probably not produce anything else. The book is going back to the library, and PG will move on to something else. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.

Runoff

PG got back from the school, after going up the path to vote. The path gets narrower and narrower. The part you walk on has been washed out, by the same rains that send the weeds into a growing frenzy. The job of trimming back these weeds is never done. Is a primary runoff the electoral equivalent of trimming back these vines?
The voting takes place in the media center, formerly known as the library. A large, obviously new, rug is in the lobby of the school. There is nobody in line at seven thirty. The lady asks for an ID. PG asks the lady not to laugh at the picture. The next lady tries to scan the drivers license, and winds up typing the information in on the touch screen. She goes one letter at a time, using an ink pen. Finally, she gives PG a small plastic card, which he puts in the slot, on the machine. The handicapped booth serves both Democrats and Republicans.
There are only three races in the Democratic runoff. One is for some kind of school board person. Neither name is familiar, so PG picks the most normal sounding name. In the other two races, all four candidates have called PG on the phone. The two Congressional candidates used a live human to call, and the two Judge wannabes utilized a robocall machine. PG has a rule: do not vote for someone that calls you on the phone. All four candidates have broken this rule.
In the judge election, both candidates have funny sounding names. One of them sounds vaguely African. The other sounds like a black lady, born in the United States. PG picks the name that is easier to pronounce. PG does not want to meet either one in court.
The Congressional race is a bit more complicated. PG has written about Lucy McBath. Her opponent, Kevin Abel, is a nice looking young man. Both candidates have sent stacks of slick, well produced, mailers. Mr. Abel sent one with a picture of Donald Trump, with the word “Lies” prominently displayed. It is uncertain how this will help.
The Democrat winner will run against Karen Handel. She is a certified poopyhead. The job at this stage is to determine who will have the best chance of defeating Mrs. Handel. While Kevin Abel has a certain blonde appeal, Lucy McBath will get people interested in the election. Neither last name will inspire a vulgar campaign slogans. (Vote your McBath off.) Mrs. Handel is a heavyweight contender, and will be tough to defeat. Lucy McBath is the best choice here.
Pictures today are from The Library of Congress.

Make Money

Gawker Orphans

Why Immigrants Like Me Hate Illegal Immigration ~ atlanta’s berlin wall ~ 1927 topo map ~ “A Complete Shit Show”: As Fusion Media Implodes, Will the Gawker Orphans Hit the Block? ~ stabbing of Applebee’s waitress ~ 6-month-old grazed by bullet during shooting, police say ~ Low ~ Read a Transcript of Trump and Putin’s Joint Press Conference ~ Maddow: Time For Americans To Face ‘Worst Case Scenario’ On Donald Trump ~ rachel maddow says the kkk endorses trump ~ Did The KKK Endorse Donald Trump? ~ Texas Shouldn’t Execute Chris Young for Murder Even Though He Is Guilty of the Crime ~ 10 Unconventional Facts About William Burroughs ~ laurie anderson ~ Clever Beaver ~ nagasaki ~ nuclear test videos ~ pink trap house ~ “Track Two” Documentary, on 1981 Toronto Bathhouse Raids ~ Papa John’s CEO Was Banished Because He Is A White Man Who Talked About Race ~ Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover ~ lingthusiasm ~ white man steals your soul ~ @GideonResnick “John Poulsen, a 47-year-old Harrisburg mechanic who voted for Obama then Trump, said he was tired of big city liberals standing up for white rhinos.” ~ 3 Approaches for Confronting Microaggressions ~ @AP BREAKING: Trump administration proposes limiting habitat protections for endangered species. ~ battle of shanghai ~ kill the puppy dogs ~ Ta-Nehisi Coates is leaving the Atlantic ~ Robin Williams’ widow: ‘It was not depression’ that killed him ~ The Democratic Party Apologizes to Black Voters ~ four ways to pronounce banal ~ .@romanmars .@99piorg I enjoyed the interobang show Here is a related blog post I wrote. If you have not already done so, this could be a future episode Why do computers have 789 on the top row, while telephones have 123 on top? ~ semantics test ~ dancing girl ~ more putingate ~ American flag burned outside LA office of congresswoman ~ 34 years ago, a KGB defector chillingly predicted modern America ~ things that got me blocked. @chamblee54 i have done research on this, and the key was the people voting for johnson and stein hrc spent 3% in michigan that she spent in ohio hrc lost michigan by >1%, lost ohio by 8% maybe the more of hrc voters saw, the less they liked her @EmoNegro1 Or maybe Russia tampered with the vote totals or Russian assets Jill Stein and Bernie Sanders siphoned off votes from the left, which they were paid to do? @chamblee54 this is why you need to avoid insulting voters that you need an election is not a teaching moment it is about electing a flawed person instead of a much more flawed person call out racism AFTER you elect your candidate @EmoNegro1 So you’re saying Hillary/Democratic Party need racist voters to win? @chamblee54 yes this is politics you need the support of people you think are horrible could the democrats win without prejudiced black people? @EmoNegro1 So you believe black people are prejudiced? @chamblee54 duh there is a semantic game here. people say black people can’t be racist, but can be prejudiced tomayto tomahto until we pay the same attention to black prejudice that we pay to white racism, we will never get anywhere @EmoNegro1 We ain’t got no more to say. You and Bernie want politics centered on white people. Hillary hurt your fee fees You believe black people not voting for Bernie means they are racist. You brought us Trump. Live it, love it and you’re BLOCKED! @EmoNegro1 More If you come running up in my mentions defending racism and saying Democrats NEED to pander to racists in order to win, you’ve let me know you’ll sell my black ass off to the highest bidder for your comforts and YOU GETS BLOCKED! ~ You are blocked from following @EmoNegro1 and viewing @EmoNegro1’s Tweets. Learn more ~ I don’t watch MSNBC, so I don’t know what Miss Maddow was saying in 2016. Today, she claims to be all over the Russia thing, which she might have been. However, that is not what I remember hearing. I heard about a tiny Arkansas newspaper getting blown up into “The KKK endorses Trump.” I remember hearing that if you vote for Trump you are a racist. In the end, the smalltown voters in Michigan did not like being called racist. That is what the pro-Hillary media did, and how Rachel Maddow helped Donald Trump get elected. ~ klepto kakisocracy klique ~ Compassion is when you use dark letters against a light background, so the text can be easily read. ~ This presumes that an idea is at some time alive. An idea.. aka belief,opinion etc. … , is a construct of the human mind. Can this be said to be alive, or dead, in the same sense that plants or animals are? ~ The activities at the place-that-must-not-be-mentioned should be kept as quiet as possible. Unfortunately, the cat is out of the bag. I still think we should utilize some discretion in describing these activities. As for the purpose of the ARF page… it is a place to announce local events. I think it gets caught up in promotion of fae-related stuff. Maybe the admins could be a bit stricter about this. I think the admins are doing a good job as the page evolves. To the admins of this group:THANK YOU!! ~ Another purpose of this page is posting items that may be of interest to the community. Some of these items are going to be *problematic* to some. You are not obligated to read, or react to, anything that ruffles your feathers. I would enjoy having a vibrant forum, with the understanding that we are not always going to agree. ~ pictures for the publication of last week’s notes are from The Library of Congress. ~ here is the poem from last night at java monkey:
maybe i just never went out quietly ~ swashbuckling rutabaga mannequins
i hope that i would but i can’t literally ~ skedaddle spelunker shenanigans
i’ll try but i’ve got a problem absolutely ~ brouhaha pumpernickel appetite
irregardless i have to shoot stuff quickly ~ quintessential humbuggery morphodite
kumquat lollygag idiot mambo ~ nincompoop fooey manatee latrine
cuckhold phalanx tomfoolery bongo ~ umpteen kaleidoscope bunghole peen
nincompoop fooey manatee latrine ~ strumpet ragamuffin charlie mingus
umpteen kaleidoscope bunghole peen ~ discombobulated cunnilingus
strumpet ragamuffin charlie mingus ~ cuckhold phalanx tomfoolery bongo
discombobulated cunnilingus ~ kumquat lollygag idiot mambo

Acronyms

PG was cruising the internet, minding his own business, when he saw the initials HSAT. He was puzzled, but knew that uncle google could help. 0.28 seconds later, PG was looking at Healthy School Action Tools and Hazardous Substances Academic Training. Sensing that these were incorrect, politically and otherwise, our fearless scribe clicked on the third choice, Acronym Finder. One of the five options was Having Said All That , which fits the context of the inital HSAT.
About this time the idea light bulb went off over PG’s head…why not do a post about acronyms? With a tsunami of text flooding our capacity, acronyms help certain phrases to stand out. It can be a way to make a statement with ease, like saying TMI after hearing something you did not need to hear. Acronyms are short, and brevity is the soul of wit.
A popular misuse of acronyms is what wikipedia calls false etymology. A popular cussword does NOT mean “for unlawful carnal knowledge”. According to snopes , the urban mythbuster, acronyms are largely a twentieth century phenomenon.
Two military phrases from World War Two, snafu and fubar, are credited as being among the first acronyms to become popular. (The link for this detail no longer works.) They might be obsolete. DOD Dictionary of Military Terms does not include snafu and fubar.
This is a repost, with pictures from The Library of Congress. When you recycle a post from 2011, most of the links have gone bad. Webster’s Dictionary is now Merriam-Webster. When you look up acronyms, you find this: What’s an Initialism? “‘UNICEF’ is an acronym. ‘ACLU’ is an initialism. Why?” This is getting to be complicated. If you want to know about initialisms and acronyms, follow the link. You are responsible for any brain damage.