chamblee54

come see me

2008-03-04T13:48:00.004-05:00

Chamblee 54 has moved.
The new address is

http://chamblee54.wordpress.com/

If you prefer to use a link, go here
Piersgavestonjr is on vacation.

Evolution

2008-02-26T14:11:00.002-05:00

After 400+ posts, it is time to move on.
Google has been shutting me out of access to my account on my home computer.
I have written emails, filled out forms, and talked to several tech reps from my ISP.
While I enjoy the ease of use here, that does not do much good if you cannot get into your account.
Blogger is not the only game in town.
Last night I made my first post here.
Wordpress has a few quirks that I need to get used to. I also want to experiment at a couple of other venues.
It has been fun, at there is time for a comeback. But I have to see what else is available.

82 Percent

2008-02-11T20:19:00.001-05:00

82%LUSH

justonedrinkwonthurtyou
I do so much enjoy internet tests.
This one is easy to figure out. Being a fan of Vincent Van Gogh, I know that Absinthe is made of wormwood. It doesn't take too much shmartz to figure that jagermeister means master hunter. And so it goes.
The test says I am 82% alcoholic, lush.

I took my last drink December 31, 1988.
ht to mingaling . I hope this test is not a requirment for being in APWBWGTTD.

This is a shock. I am able to get into blogger.
For the last 19 days, I have not been able to log onto blogspot. I have spent hours on the phone with tech reps, sent numerous messages to blogger, and been very unpleased. I don't know if what I did tonight was a fluke, but I will try it again later.

Stupor Tuesday

2008-02-05T14:31:00.000-05:00

Stupor Tuesday is here.
With the Electoral College all but certain to give Georgia's votes to a Repub, Mardi Gras is the only chance to vote I will get this year.
I don't have to make up my mind until I step in the building, but I will probably hold my nose. The voting is in the cafetorium of my grammar school. It will not be the first time I hold my nose in there.
On Sunday, I had a chat with a Ron Paul guy. I asked if Dr. P was a white supremacist, and the RPG said no. He did say that there were a lot of scary looking black guys in Washington DC.
So, who to vote for?
Hillary Rodham and Mitt Romney are too gross for words.
Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul have statement value. Neither has a prayer to win, but you can make a statement with either one. Of course, neither is one that I care to support.
Which leaves us with John McCain and Barack Obama. When I hear Rush Limbaugh call McCain a liberal, it puts a smile on my face.
When I hear Obama orate with his silver tongue, it makes me wonder what was so bad about Hillary anyway.
It would be good to know who the Vice Presidential choices would be. This is important for an old geezer like McCain, or a cigarette smoking "former" cocaine user like Obama.
And isn't one former coke freak in the White House too many?
No one has a clue about the War in Babylon. I find Obama's opposition encouraging. I find McCain's kill them all clueless ness to be discouraging.
While Obama is a dynamic presence, I keep wondering who is pulling the strings on that puppet. The Ron Paul Guy says that Obama gets lots of special interest money, and I have no reason to doubt him.
I still have a couple of hours to think, before the showdown in the cafetorium. For now, it looks like Obama, but if Huckabee comes through with that fried squirrel I may have to rethink.

Get Naive

2008-01-30T13:09:00.000-05:00

Sometimes things you have seen a thousand times jump out.
Anagrams are an interest of mine. The idea is that you take the letters of a word to create a new word. Sometimes the two phrases have a, um, poetic connection. Not that it adds up in two plus two fashion, but there is a vague connection.
So I read this thing by Kiko, where he is discussing the New York N.O.W., Barack Obama, and Ted Kennedy. It seems like the libbers are upset with swimming Teddy because he endorsed the hope and change guy.
So the commentary said something about negative feminist stereotypes, when I looked at the “N word” again, and saw something. Negative is an anagram for get naïve.
And get naïve…or negative…is a good phrase N.O.W. or Ted Kennedy.
This reminds me of my favorite quote about Dick Williams. Once he wrote for the fishwrapper, comparing gay people to Richard Speck, Sirhan Sirhan, and Adolph Hitler. This was in addition to the predictable right wing nonsense, a good bit of which revolved around Ted Kennedy bashing. In the pre Clinton era, saying something rude about Ted Kennedy was required for “conservative” writers who wanted right wing street cred.
One day a letter writer gently admonished Mr. Williams about this. He said that Mr. Williams and Mr. Kennedy should get to know each other, maybe go for a drive in the country some afternoon. Do bow ties float?

These are difficult days in the blogosphere. Google is not letting me connect at home, and any blogging I do needs to be done at work. The picture collection is not here, so the text will have to stand alone.
While I am hoping to resolve the issues with Blogger, I do need to look at other alternatives. Does anyone reading this have any suggestions as to typepad, wordpress, live journal, or the host of other options?
Spell check suggestions for this feature:

Kiko- kilo, kike, kino, kook, kick.
Google- goggles, gouge
Blogger- logger, flogger
Blogosphere- photosphere
Sirhan- Syrian, siphon, iran, saran
Cred- credo, crud, cried, cored, creed

eight candidates in twelve words or less

2008-01-25T08:29:00.000-05:00

The original idea was to put the candidates in first name order, regardless of party affiliation. However, when you do this, you have a demo-repub split. This is using last names as a tie breaker, which puts Edwards ahead of McCain.

Barack Obama- Do we really want another coke head in the White (Line) House?
Hillary Clinton- Yuk.
John Edwards- How are we going to pay for all the cool ideas?
John McCain- Angers "conservatives". Would be 79 when his second term ends.
Mike Huckabee- Eats fried squirrel. Wants a theocracy.
Mitt Romney- What do you want to hear today?
Ron Paul -He didn't read those white supremacist newsletters.
Rudy Guliani- Please don't take this personally.
Spell check suggestions
repub- repel, repay, repot, republic, brewpub, rape, ripe
Huckabee- chickadee, checkable, hoecake, huskies, huskier, hotcake

We're not Worthy

2008-01-23T19:20:00.001-05:00

asinantiquitythelonelyman
A few weeks ago, I posted something called "heavy metal blunder". There was a quote from a band called Steppenwolf, whose first hit was "Born to be Wild". This song was featured on the soundtrack to Easy Rider, which made Jack Nicholson a star.
Steppenwolf was a painfully relevant group, given to political ranting. They later devolved into a front band for whoever owned the name. As the attached handbill indicates, they once played at the Great Southeast Music Hall. On the next Monday, I was on a Trailways bus for San Francisco. I spent a week in a moonie camp and came back.
"Steppenwolf" was also a novel by Herman Hesse, which I am reading for the second time now. I did a bit of research on it while putting together the earlier post, and was surprised at how little of it I remembered from 1978. I decided it was time for another go through.
There was a girl at my high school, a very pretty cheerleader a couple of years older than I. One day after she graduated, she went downtown, and took an elevator to the 22nd floor of the Regency Hyatt House. She left a copy of "Steppenwolf" on the atrium balcony and jumped into the lobby.
Later in high school, I noticed some of the hippie crowd reading this same book. I said something about "Hess" and was corrected " That is hess-uh, illiterate".
A few more years down the path, I was at the I-85 flea market one sunday morning. A Drive In theatre would rent out space to people selling stuff on sunday morning, and this sabbath I got a copy of "Steppenwolf". A dear john letter and a copy of a birth certificate were inside the book. The introduction was written in 1963 by a professor at Berkeley. The band Steppenwolf was from Berkeley.
The book is about a man named Harry Haller, who is probably a stand in for Herman Hesse. It is set in 1920s Germany. Mr. Haller had been a critic of World War One, which probably had a different name in 1920s Germany. He was not well liked as a result.
Mr. Haller feels himself to be half man half wolf, and does not fit in well with society. He is set to go home and kill himself when he meets Hermine, who breathes life into his putrid existence. There is more to the story, which may or may not be a future post. Maybe the war will end and a candidate I can tolerate will emerge, and I won't have anything else to write about.
The book is full of episodes of synchronicity. I am certain the French have a good phrase for this, but I couldn't pronounce it. I was casting about for an english phrase, which could be applied to these incidents of "fantastic realism". I thought of "yowza". It was used by the Gig Young in a movie, and was repeated in a disco song. So the book has yowzas in it.
The one that got me was the death of Herman Hesse's father. This was in March of 1916, and was two weeks after my father was born. Now, dad was in neutral North Carolina, which Mr. Hesse was in war torn Germany. This struck me as profound, as did other similarities between Mr. Hesse/Haller and your reporter.
There is an episode in the book where Haller meets Goethe in a dream. (And why is Goethe pronounced Gert-tuh?) Mr. Goethe says something uncomplimentary about the times Haller lives in, and Haller immediately tells Goethe that he is correct, that the oldies were great and the moderns are garbage. When I read that, I flashed to the scene in "Wayne's World" where Wayne and Garth bow in front of Alice Cooper, saying “We’re not worthy”.
hesse- Hess, hose, hassle, Jesse, these, hiss
sunday- sundae, sundry, sunray
hermine- heroine, ermine, herman, hormone
yowza- yews, yaws, Iowa, dowse, ooze, doze
Gert-tuh- get up

298 Starry

2008-01-22T16:28:00.001-05:00

thisworldwasnevermeantforsomeone
Being inspired by Vincent Van Gogh is a dangerous matter. He did not enjoy good mental health.
Friday, the picture finished itself. Saturday, a bit of finishing, and then the image was put in the studio window. While this is not the best picture, it is not horrible. Keep the machine running, keep in practice, and before long inspiration will strike and better product will result. I still have both ears.

go braves

2008-01-17T18:28:00.001-05:00

gobravesandtakethefalconswithyou
So the Richmond Braves are going to move to Gwinnett County. I have appointed myself the asker of rude questions.
How much water is this going to use? A baseball diamond does not grow naturally, and needs to be watered. Where is this water going to come from? The Atlanta area is in a long term water crunch, and this is not going to get any better. We are acting like heroin addicts’, scrambling to get our next fix while tomorrow is left to take care of itself. We are not out of this drought yet, and the governments are already binging.
The next question is arguably none of my business, since I live in Dekalb County. Why is Gwinnett County spending 45 million dollars on a minor league baseball stadium? Do none of their schools need improvement? Are the roads in perfect condition? Of course, with Fulton and Dekalb counties providing the region with a trauma center, maybe it is my business.
Do the people of Gwinnett County have a say so in this? These are the same folks who rejected MARTA a few years ago. Do they really want to spend this money, or sit in the traffic jams?
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Gwinnett- ginned, grinned, Genet, twinjet, gimlet, gained, guinness, wined
Dekalb- decal, deals, dealt
And now for something completely different. Here is a video about an international man of importance.

The Darwin Awards

2008-01-14T21:47:00.000-05:00

nowforsomethingcompletelydifferent
"Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it."
They are not named for the husband on the TV show "Bewitched".

This years leading vote getter is "coitus interruptus". In South Carolina, a young man and young woman decided to make love at the edge of a pyramid shaped metal roof. They were found on the ground the next day. The man was reported to be smiling.
In Texas, a man named Michael consumed 3 liters of sherry utilizing an enema. The coroner reported a blood alcohol content of 0.47%. This is nearly five times what is suggested for a DUI.
In Guadalajara, Mexico, Jessica was working out in the hotel gym when she realized she needed something from downstairs. She decided to shout down an empty elevator shaft. The elevator was coming down the shaft at the same time.
Something similar to this happened at the Downtown Davisons at 180 Peachtree Street a few years ago.

A popular theme for this years Darwin’s is the importance of support beams. Several thieves were stealing scrap metal, when the support devices for the tank gave way and crushed the thieves. A careless demolition man at a Barn in West Virginia suffered the same crushing fate.
Some teenagers in Colorado decided to dance on top of an oil tank. They believed the tank to be empty, and lit some cigarettes and bong hits. The tank was not empty.
In a move that Frank Sinatra would appreciate, elephants in India attacked some journalists who were photographing them.
A young man in the Netherlands was a bit careless while lighting fireworks.
A witness told reporters, "His face disappeared. If someone has no face left, you know it's serious."

A man in Yuba City California crossed the centerline of a highway, and ran head on into a hummer. He was working on his laptop while driving.
This is from the "he didn't come to Chambodia " department.

(19 April 2007, Phnom Penh, Cambodia) Unwanted amorous advances on a heifer resulted in a man's death at the hooves of the violated bovine. Sounds of a scuffle culminated in the discovery of his naked body lying beneath the frightened family cow. Injuries to his head and genital area were consistent with being kicked to death.
Why did he do it?
The man's divorce had become final a mere 10 days prior to his fateful final fling. In the divorce, and also a previous divorce, his ex-wives cited his insatiable desire as the cause of the dissolution.
Police concluded that the man died in a rape gone wrong. They do not plan to take action against the cow, which appeared to have been acting in self-defense.

HT on this goes to Feast of Fools.

Open Letter to the Lady in a S.U.V.

2008-01-12T20:43:00.000-05:00

justdrivewhatthelawsays
This is an open letter to the lady in the SUV.
You were behind me on Johnson Ferry Road, between Peachtree Industrial and Ashford Dunwoody. You were following too close, and wandering from side to side of the lane, as if to tell me to drive faster. I was going the speed limit and was not in the mood to violate the law. It was a two lane road, and there was no need to go faster.
After the first red light, there was about two hundred feet of an extra lane. You sped around me, and got in front to turn left onto the next segment of Johnson Ferry.
You had an SUV, and bumper stickers from Emory, William and Mary, and the Human Rights Campaign Fund. Me, I choose not to advertise on my vehicle. The sponsor of this show is behind the wheel.
If I donated money to a lame outfit like the HRCF, I would be quiet about it.
Both of us finance terrorism when we buy gasoline. I dare say that your SUV pays more than my Honda Accord.
The next section of Johnson Ferry was a two lane road with a 35 mph speed limit. This road was built before the subdivisions and apartments, back in an era when 35 mph was moving pretty fast. There is a bridge at the bottom of the hill over Nancy Creek, which is kinda rough and broken up. I like to slow down a bit before crossing it.
I looked ahead, and you had driven fast until you came to a car ahead. You seemed to be following it a bit too close. If there had been a need for a sudden stop, you might not have been able to stop your SUV in time.
The light at the top of the hill was green, and we went on through to the light at Peachtree Dunwoody, across from the hospitals. You were in the middle lane, and I was in the right lane. I was next to you at the light.
All that type A driving had done you no good. The tailgating, the unsafe passing, the weaving from side to side.... all that did
was make your fellow drivers nervous. You still wound up in the same place. You put the lives of others in danger, and you did not gain a thing.
If you need to be somewhere earlier, leave your residence earlier.

The Legacy of Ronald Reagan

2008-01-11T19:00:00.000-05:00

webeginbombinginfiveminutes
First, this was going to be an open letter to a crazy driver I saw this morning. Then, I learn that Gary Hilton (no relation to Paris) used to walk his dog in Murphy Candler Park. Daddy's Sunday school class had picnics there. (HT to Recovering Baptist)
Selfish drivers are a dime a dozen. Just one comment today...if I gave money to a useless organization like the Human Rights Campaign Fund, I would not boast about it on my vehicle.
I don't like to use my ride as an ad medium anyway. You never know when the next Jay Grodner will see you.

I had a realization this morning. Like many lightbulb over the head moments, it is amazing that no one else has realized this. Or maybe someone has, but just wasn't talking loud enough.
It is about the legacy of Ronald Reagan. Some whiner was asking "what would Reagan do" and bemoaning the lack of a Reagan in this years race.
And then, as if by magic, the answer hit me.

The heir to the legacy of Ronald Reagan is Barack Obama.

Reagan made America feel good about itself. He was a cheerleader, an optimist, and a speaker of happy thoughts. This is essentially what Mr. Obama is doing today.

It is a triumph of style over substance.

Mr. Obama's message is one of unity. We should unite as Americans, and work past our differences. Exactly how he intends to do this is a bit of a mystery.
I can hear the bedwetters already..."Reagan was a conservative, Obama is a Liberal". Now, on the surface that is true. But lets look at the record.
Reagan was essentially a secular man who courted the religious vote. The "true believers" didn't seem to mind.
He talked tough on defense, but didn't start any wars. When the marine barracks in Lebanon were bombed, our troops were out of there before you could say Morning in America.
He made arms deals with Iran.
He was an ally of Saddam Hussein.
The budget deficit went over 200 billion dollars a year while he was in office.
We used drug runners to deliver weapons to Nicaragua. The planes were not empty when they returned.
That doesn't sound very conservative. This did not seem to bother his fans. He presented the image of a conservative leader, and that was good enough. He was an actor, who knew his lines and didn’t trip over the scenery.

It was a triumph of style over substance.

On the other hand, the "Liberal" Obama is courting the Jesus Worship crowd. He did a campaign tour with the pathetic Donnie McClurkin.
Who is pulling the strings on this puppet?

Religion or Faith

2008-01-09T19:42:00.000-05:00

bringinginthesheaveswewillcomerejoicing
Reports on the presidential debacle refer to Mitt Romney and his Mormon Faith. A few years ago this would have been religion. The word seems to have spread that people don't like religion, so we need to call it something else.
Is Faith a good word to use? Faith is an intangible, similar to trust, respect, believe and like. It is a confidence that something will happen, or that someone has your best interests at heart. While its use indicating a system of religious belief is valid, one wonders whether another intangible would do just as well. Maybe we should speak of someone's Catholic Trust, or Jewish Respect. Or maybe just accept that we are all the children of G-d and not exploit Religion for selfish gain.
If this continues, will Faith become a dirty word the way Religion is now?

The Foul Tax and Mr. Obama

2008-01-07T19:09:00.001-05:00

longdrivetorightfieldiscurving
The original concept was for this post to be about either the fair tax or Barack Obama. The more I think, the more similarities I see between the two.
I can start with Mr. O. With his rock star looks and charisma, and the fact that he is not Hillary, his train seems unstoppable. It would be a symbolic moment if a dark skinned man were elected President, even if he is not the descendent of slaves. Yes, he has always been opposed to the War in Babylon.
Maybe he is just a photogenic front man, without any substance. The same could be said of Ronald Reagan, and America really didn't do too badly under him. Just who is pulling the strings on this puppet with star quality?
My main question with the man is how is he going to deal with the military machine. We now have an agreement with the Iraqi Government. This treaty that isn't a treaty has our troops supporting the Iraqi Government, in exchange for first access to the vast oil riches in Mesopotamia. What is the Junior Senator from Illinois going to do about that?
There is also the matter of this video. Do women really dance out of his mouth?

curvingjustshortofthefoulpole
An Obama Presidency is a great idea, with some serious questions about the implementation. Which brings us to the Fair Tax. (We are awaiting a call from the Umpire whether it is fair or foul, or maybe a sacrifice bunt).
Nobody likes the I.R.S. Calls to do away with it will always find an audience. Maybe the Fair Tax will be enacted, and maybe it will do all that it's supporters claim.
I suspect it is a good idea, with serious questions about the implementation. And no, I have not read the book.

1- I only have so much time to read, and I prefer to read fiction. OK, some of you say the Fair Tax book is fiction.
2- I don't trust the men who wrote it. One of them is a radio whiner who says every day, in effect, Don't believe anything I say unless your own experience goes along with it. The other is a Republican congressman. I suspect that neither of them really believes in the Fair Tax, but know a good gimmick when they see one.
3- I am aware of the power of rhetoric, sophistry, and the clever word processor. (See Mr. Obama above). You can make grand arguments in favor of a lot of things that are not completely true.

I hear a lot about the Fair Tax on the Whiners radio show. It seems like the more I hear, the more I don't like.
Here is an example from today. The concept of the Foul Tax is that a thirty percent sales tax would replace the income tax, and other Federal Taxes. (I know there is more than that, before you start to say, "Read the Book". For today’s illustration, that nutshell is sufficient)
As our example, lets say that we have a book selling for Ten Dollars. The book was written by a bald headed radio whiner, and says rude things about Liberals. Now, on the surface, with the Fair Tax, the book would cost thirteen dollars, that is, the cost of the book plus the thirty percent tax.
Today’s whine was about embedded taxes. According to the whiner, there are embedded taxes in the ten dollars. These are the corporate taxes paid by the publisher, and other taxes that are passed along to the consumer as part of the ten dollar price. I understand this concept, and realize that this is a big reason why many American goods are not competitive in the marketplace.
But then the whiner said something that I simply don't believe. He said that once the embedded taxes were removed, the cost of the book would go down. This cost would go down so far that the book would still sell for ten dollars, even with a thirty percent tax markup.
One, who is to say the publisher would not just keep a bit of those taxes in the form of added profits? Are the embedded taxes enough to lower the price so that a thirty percent markup wouldn't matter?
I am not an economist. Maybe the book has answers to this, and maybe they are not just clever words.
Chanting "Read the Book" only goes so far.

Fair Tax Follies

2008-01-04T22:08:00.000-05:00

itsjustlikeglobalwarming
NON1-and Hillary came in 3rd
JWD-that was suprising to me
LITE-yeah. .i was surprised how well mr. edwards did
NON1-Im gonna go with Huckabee, he supports the fair tax
LITE-never trust a baPtist minister with anything. .
LITE-unless they are black
PTO--i am going to go with the one who lies the most upfront, at least that way you'll know what
LITE-oh then Gulianai is your man
TND--Downy, do you like ANYONE who's running?
NON1-Im gonna go with anyone that supports the Fair tax
TND--good luck with that.
JWD-yes
NON1-Abolish the IRS
PTO--how much can they tax a fair? you don't make much with those games of chance and selling funnel cakes PTO--or so this one carnie told me
NON1-Have you read john linders book OTP?
PG--its like the flat tax, why should we tax women with small breasts

PTO--i am too pretty to read
NON1-its nothing like the flat tax
NON1-lol
PTO--lol, piers
PG--i don't believe anything neil boortz says, and i dont think he really believes in the fair tax
NON1-piers its not his book, or purposel, its John Linders
PG--neeyull has hitched his wagon to the star of the fair tax
PG--john linder is a f---wad
NON1-and what dont you like about it Piers????????
PG--i am nuetral on the fair tax, i just dont trust neil boortz
NON1-thats not what I asked?
JWD-well there are other involvend in it besides boortz
NON1-just because he supports it, does not make it wrong
JWD-right down
PG--i wrote a thing about this at my blog, and i am going to find the link
NON1-its a tax based on what you spend not what you make
PG--http://chamblee54.blogspot.com/2007/07/fair-tax.htmlPG--i have expressed myself, and dont feel like typing all that again
NON1-and I dont feel like reading your blog, as I really think you are miss informed
JWD-just think no income tax forms to do
NON1-YEAH
PG--well, my observations are there...the fair tax is like communism, a great idea in theory,but i have issues about the
application
JWD-well if we had the fair tax he could keep it all
NON1-you make no sense, whats not to like????????
PG--the more i hear about the f tax the more suspicious i am
JWD-why ?
PG--http://chamblee54.blogspot.com/2007/07/fair-tax.html
JWD-causr it will hurt the POOR
NON1-read the f---ing book, before you say that, Ithink your dislike of Bortz is what reflects in your opinion
PG--read my f---ing blog, it has better pictures
TND--geez.
TND--does this have to be the topic of conversation every night??????
JWD-no income tax, no SS tax, what wrong with that
JWD- how is it communisitc
NON1-if you spend 25,000 a year you pay 23%, if you spend 1.000.000 a year you pay 23%
NON1-I doubt that 10 % of the people in this room even have a clue about
what is stated in the fairtax
JWD-it would not eliminate property tax

Heavy Metal Blunder

2008-01-03T19:46:00.001-05:00

timetomoveonetoanotherplace
Finally, that tech rep found what he needed, and I have the computer again. I still have 32 minutes to go, so there is plenty of time.
But first, open the tupperware rectangle and get to the steamed spinach. I suppose Popeye found it easier to squeeze a can open, but for my money the way to eat spinach is to steam it while you eat breakfast, take it to work, and then eat the cold blob for lunch. It tastes good, and unlike many other tasty foods, it makes you feel good when you are finished.
I see that one of my internet heroes has had a life changing experience. Like fleeing your home at 17 to live in Jordan is not intense enough, you have to realize that heavy metal music is not the only thing that matters in life.
I suppose I should read his feature before making my commentary, but why bother. This is heavy metal, and if I wanted to read then I would listen to classical music. There is a DJ on our local NPR station that sounds like she is about to keel over from old age. This does add a bit of suspense to the daily broadcasts, and could certainly liven up a pledge drive it was properly marketed.

The first heavy metal band I heard growing up was Black Sabbath. No, it was not Alvin and The Chipmunks or Neil Diamond. It was Ozzie and his buddies. The role models I was assigned to did not think they were very cool.
But life was there to be lived. As I got older, I saw that my role models did not know everything. I found myself outside a football stadium in Seattle listening to Black Sabbath (without Ozzie) playing inside. Another time, I got home and saw a pair of longhairs working in the downstairs apartment. I turned the stereo up to 8 and put on "Paranoid". Ah, memories.
The story of the Iraqi Konfused Kid is a good one, and has many lessons for the heathens. Meanwhile, I finished my spinach, and went to the break room to find some leftover dessert from the Christmas Potluck. As I was carving out a chunk of Death by Chocolate Ice Cream, Bosslady came in with two pieces of bread, one of which was anointed with peanut butter. She looked in the canister with the fast food condiments, hoping to find a container of jelly to compliment the peanut butter. I suggested chocolate ice cream. She found something else.
Before sending this feature into the boogasphere, I consulted Wikipedia. This awaited:

“The origin of the term heavy metal in a musical context is uncertain. The phrase has been used for centuries in chemistry and metallurgy. An early use of the term in modern popular culture was by countercultural writer William S. Burroughs. His 1962 novel The Soft Machine includes a character known as "Uranian Willy, the Heavy Metal Kid”…The first recorded use of heavy metal in a song lyric is in Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," also released that year:

"I like smoke and lightning/Heavy metal thunder/Racin' with the wind/And the feelin' that I'm under."

Spell Check suggestions for this feature:
Ozzie-Ooze, Oozy, Ox,Uzi
Konfused- confused, confessed, confides

19 banished words

2008-01-01T19:37:00.001-05:00

donteverusethatkindoflanguage
Those fun lovers at Lake Superior State University have released their annual list of words that should be banished. If you want to wait for a slow web page to open and see the commentary on these words, go here.
While you are there, you can see the "Related Sites". These include "Unicorn Hunters" and "Because Michigan is Amazing".
There is also a complete list of banned words. Unlike George Carlin, there are a lot more than seven words. There might be seven times seventy, but counting them is too much work.
Here are the words for this year. I even put them in alphabetical order.

AUTHOR/AUTHORED–BACK IN THE DAY –
BLACK FRIDAY–'BLANK' is the new 'BLANK' –
DECIMATE–EMOTIONAL–GIVE BACK
IT IS WHAT IT IS–ORGANIC–PERFECT STORM –
POP–POST 9/11–RANDOM–SURGE–
SWEET–UNDER THE BUS–WATERBOARDING–
WEBINAR–WORDSMITH/WORDSMITHING–

arthroscopy chronicles

2007-12-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

thiswontheurtabitnowdidit
There has been some talk about the ultra personal blogging, TMI, and people who share too much. This is one of those posts. You have been warned.

The focus of the camera's stare today is my right knee. I like to walk and bike, so this joint gets a lot of use. I can thank an orthopedic surgeon that it works today.
One drunken afternoon in 1987, I found myself on the wrong side of a creek. I jumped across, and marveled at the way my duck shoes felt as they sunk into the sandbar. Look, there’s a bluff over there, just a couple of feet higher. Naw, you aren't afraid of that, go for it. Oh no, the sand is a bit looser here, that bluff was a bit higher than I thought, gee my knee sure does hurt.
It got better, and I hobbled through the next couple of months. Then one night, I was cleaning out a tight corner of my apartment, and this hot butterscotch flowed through my knee. I couldn't put any weight on it. A pair of crutches was procured, and the emergency room gave me some pain pills. Finally the appointment was made, the tests run, the follow up appointment, the second opinion, all in addition to much angst and concern. Finally, on June 1, 1988, I was driven to the outpatient center. The nurse marked a big NO on my left knee, and I was given some gas and told to count to ten. When I woke up my knee was fixed.
Arthroscopy is a great thing. I have heard the horror stories about old fashioned knee surgery, and seen Joe Namath try to walk at a public appearance. I am grateful for modern times.
I don't aggressively jump across creeks.

Five Best Blogs Today

2007-12-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

theydidntincludemewaaaaahhhhh
A certain local blogger (who sometimes does not like my comments) is doing a Year in Review. He is covering last May. During this month, there was a cover story at Creative Loafing about the Five Best Blogs in Atlanta.
Andisheh Nouraee wrote the story. He writes a dandy piece each week about the War in Babylon. When I get near a distribution point I get a copy...actually two copies; I put one in the breakroom at work. Marietta still needs a bit of help.
Mr. Nouraee was not totally complimentary about the local blogosphere. All this proves is that he is paying attention. There is a lot of refuse out there, and a lot of it is really out there. Some were offended that this was said out loud. Not to worry, Mr. Nouraee went back to telling us about how the surge is working.
When I saw this mentioned a few minutes ago, I had an idea for a fast and easy post. Why not go back to the Five best blogs and see how they are doing?

Peach pundit
Last post.... 12-24-07
This blog seems to be rockin'. I had a link to it in my favorites for some reason or another, so it must be doing something right. While Georgia politics is a murky subject at best, it does have its fans. I am not one, although it does have a certain morbid curiosity.

Inside the Oversexed Mind of Gloria Brame
Last post 12-24-07
This is another one that has not slowed down. When I stopped in there was a video of some bread thingies in a French Bakery. They resembled male genitalia.
This blog needs to be seen on full screen or you miss a lot of the words. This is annoying to those of us who do not like full screen.

somethingtellsmeitisntthereanymore
Peachtree Screed
"the page cannot be found"
I think I heard something about Mr. Monroe getting a real job up north. While this is the opposite of the normal flow of yankees to the tolerant south, it is a loss.
I read Mr. Monroe when he was at Creative Loafing, but never did get around to his blog.

I saw it on Ponce
Last post 10-29-07
I don't know what happened here. There is a wealth of material on that wretched thoroughfare, but whoever does this seems to have better things to do.

Cable and Tweed
Last post 12-21-07
C&T is a regular at AtlBloggers, so I see its output. Didn't I hear somewhere they were based in Athens? Not that it really matters, since the Classic City is essentially a suburb of Atlanta.
My problem with music blogs is yours truly. I am 53yo and have not been hip since Jimmy Carter was President. I truly appreciate people who are fighting the good fight and keeping rock alive...yea, even flourishing...but I am well into the third act of my life, and see so much that I don't know about.
So there you have it sports fans. One has been shut down, one is on hiatus, and three are rolling along. None of these are on my daily visit routine, but that isn't too shocking...out of about a quadrillion blogs, I go to about a dozen regularly. There is always next year.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Nouraee- nauru, neural
Brame- barnm ,brume, brim, brace, brake, brave
thingies- things, thongs
genatalia- genitalia, gentile
yankees- yanks, yanked, Yonkers, hankies, banks, ranks, hanks,tanks
Ponce- Poncho, pounce, pone, ponte, paunch
Geritol- genital, grit

297 Pasadena

2007-12-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

shecantkeepherfootofftheaccelerator
This image is called 297 Pasadena. The number is from a list of pictures, and means there are 196 other pictures in the "gallery" .The 100 series of numbers is used for my "alternative gallery". It has 29 images, for a total of 226.
This has nothing to do with speeding old ladies, or California. The name just popped into my head when I made a folder to put the photos in. Geometric Op Art is tough to name.
The first pic in this post is the original image. The rest are explorations.
I decided to do the geometric image a few weeks ago because I thought it would be easy. First I had to redraw the design. Then I built the model, and made dozens of changes to it.Build the final product, and wait for a sunny day to take the photos. A project is always 2.4 times as much work as you think it will be.

philosophy of 2girls1cup

2007-12-21T21:45:00.001-05:00

sometimesthereismoretothestory
One of the reaction videos got me thinking. Is there a deeper message embedded in the action of "2girls1cup"?
Before we get started, it is disclaimer time.

I am not suggesting that you watch this. If you are sensitive, have a heart condition, or have just eaten(like, in the last month), you may want to look at something else. It is gross, disgusting, and without redeeming social value. It is not safe for work, and has great danger for play.

I rather doubt this message was the intention of the creators of this epic. They just wanted to make a bit of cheesy scat porn. And sell a few ringtones. They succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Of course, just because the creators of a work don't intend for it to be a myth, that doesn't stop the determined believer. I rather doubt that the Council of Nicea intended their church canon to be taken as the inerrant Word of G-d. The texts in that canon were often telling allegorical stories. These were not to be taken as literal truth.
Is there a deeper truth inherent in this tawdry vignette of snacking sisters? Maybe.

The cup is the Christ figure in this saga. The deposit in the cup represents the sin of mankind, forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Jesus took the sins of man on his shoulders, and paid the price for these sins, just as the cup received the product of a young ladies digesto-elimination system.
The only trouble is, the girls then ate the forbidden flop. This compares to the way the church of Jesus Worship recycles sin. The poisonous anger and rudeness that Jesus paid for on the cross are fed back to the eager believers every Sunday.
As a response to this excremental dessert, the actress hurled onto the breast of her willing partner. This stands in for the verbal abuse that is showered on worshippers in houses of G-d every Sunday. The professional Jesus Worshippers are partaking of the same poison output as the flock, and when it comes heaving out of their guts, they project this vile output on the offering givers in the form of hellfire and brimstone sermons. And the worshippers think they are going to heaven as a result.
Was this the message the producers of this video intended? We cannot be certain.The best course of action is to refuse to partake of the product in the cup.

After I finished the original post on 2g1c, I saw a few more reaction videos.
All of the videos I mentioned had Caucasian talent. This is not fair, and I know it. These two gentlemen should provide a bit of balance.
In the video, the girls hurled on each other. In this video, the talent shows the tact to employ a potted plant.
This video shows a man who knows how to focus a video camera. It looks good on full screen.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
puker-pucker, puke, pukes, purer, pure, poker
nicea- nice, niece, niche, nike
inerrant- inert, ignorant
digesto- digest, digits

pictures of flowers

2007-12-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

whatyouseeiswhatyougetnot
Many of you have heard about "2girls1cup".
I am not suggesting that you watch this. If you are sensitive, have a heart condition, or have just eaten, you may want to look at something else. I was going to say pass, but that is an obvious joke. It is gross, disgusting, and without redeeming social value. It is not safe for work, and has great danger for play.
I have now seen the entire thing. I suspect they are using ice cream for the first prop, and some kind of liquid for the second act. The product just flows out so smoothly, and with such consistent texture, that it is tough to believe that it is the real thing.
Some people believe anything they see is real. Camera tricks are so easy. And no, camera tricks is not a joke about the two girls, although it could be.
Pro wrestlers, politicians, and Prosperity Pastors are cut out of the same mold.

everybodyisinshowbiz
Now there are the reaction videos. They all start with the dippy piano music that plays on 2g1c. Then the fun begins.
I hope that kind of music doesn't turn into a pavlovian cue.
Some sick person showed this to his grandmother. She was not amused.
There is the Italian grandfather who needed to be propped up. He didn't seem to notice much.
Someone even called the police. This is not that funny, although the lady cop has a mini skirt uniform.
There is the angry german kid. He might get violent.
The original has surfaced from the lost planet. This may be the most shocking one of all.
And for those with way too much time, there is more.Is that more or moron? A guy with a nose ring talks for six minutes about the philosophy of 2g1c. He compares this entertainment to the Ron Paul movement. The two movements do have something in common.

Shut up Bill O'Reilly

2007-12-17T18:51:00.001-05:00

hohohomerryxxxxmaaasss
JWD-and with that time to get ready fo a neighborhood CHRISTMAS gathering, and not a holiday gathering
PG-I think a secular christmas is a good idea...if Jesus worshippers want to talk about their boi, that is cool, if you just want to shop and eat then that is fine too
JWD-secular - Christmas is an oxymoron
JWD-without Christmas there wouldn’t be any of this
PG-yea, but those of who that are hated by Jesus need to enjoy the holiday as well
JWD-why?
JWD-its not their holiday
PG-the birth of Jesus is nothing for me to celebrate, Jesus hates me...but I still enjoy the holiday
This bit of dialog from yesterday has got me thinking. There is a problem with Christmas.
Before I started, I need to emphasize that JWD is a good man. This polarizing of Christmas turns people against each other, and, at the very least does not create peace on earth and good will towards men.
The problem is that Christmas is a big party that I am not invited to. I can choose to ignore the religious message, enjoy the festivities, and be done with it.
But this attitude gets in the way.
PG-yea, but those of who that are hated by Jesus need to enjoy the holiday as well
JWD-why?
JWD-its not their holiday
When I was a kid, I was told if you were going to bring candy to school, you should bring enough for everyone. It is considered rude to eat in front of people without offering them some.
And yet, Jesus Worshippers routinely have a big festive Christmas Celebration in front of all the non believers, and the heathen are expected to ignore it.
This includes those who practice other religions (Including today’s whipping boy, Islam), non believers, and those who simply don't agree with Christianity. These people are not cool enough to come to the Christmas Party of the Jesus Worshippers.
Of course all is not that bad. Before Bill O"Reilly made a spectacle of himself, Christmas was for everyone who wanted to join in. If I just wouldn't think so much, It still can be for me.
I am posting some flowers tonight, and a picture of clouds. If you look closely, you just might see reindeer doing some practice flying

spelling mistakes

2007-12-16T17:05:00.000-05:00

JWD-whats the blog of the day , PG
PG-i dont know yet JWD....i may expound on a question i asked the other day.....is mormonism a cult, religiion, faith or mess

JWD-depnds on which corner you are in, PG
JWD-whats the difference between faith and religion, according to you
PG-i think people are saying faith for what they used to call religion, and i dont think it is a good move

JJW-I heard that fath is beleaving with out reservation
JWD-to me faith is embedded in all religions
PG-faith is an intangible like trust and respect, and should be used for one on one situations, be it G-d and man or man and
man....religion is a system of beliefs, and the infrastructure built around it
JWD- anglican here but we define ias a religion no a faith
PG-you could just as well say a mans trust as a mans faith
DL-I believe the sun shall rise again. .
JWD-then what does one call an athiest ?
PG-most jesus worshippers see spiritual discipline in christian terms, when often that model does not apply
JWD- true if you dont ascribe to that model
JWD-<<< happen to be a , as you say a Jesus worshipper
PG-not all religions have a book that they call the word of G-d, and not all religions are obsessed with life after death
JWD-what your problem with spelling out God ??/
PG-that is an orthodox Jewish thing which i like....i suppose it is a bit of an affectation, but I like to do it
JWD- i know about that, or he who has no name
PG-i have a great respect for the third commandment, about the improper use of sacred names.....many christians wear out
that commandment
JWD-, my typing is the pitstoday
PG-this dialog may be recycled as a blog post, btw
JWD-you mean i may be on the net, wow
JWD-just correct my spelling ,lol
PG-you already are, you are a star.....i like to list spell check suggestions, some of which are very poetic
JWD-lol
PG-I just write stuff to put between the pictures
JWD-and with that time to get ready fo a neighborhood CHRISTMAS gathering, and not a holiday gathering
PG-sunday is too nice a day to worry about religion
JWD-well if it werent for religion you wouldnt have it
PG-i think a secular christmas is a good idea...if jesus worshippers want to talk about their boi, that is cool, if you just want to shop and eat then that is fine too

PG-the problem is when the jesus worshippers want to have it all about jesus, which i have never known it to be

JWD-secular - Christmas is an oxymoron
JWD-without Christmas there wouldnt be any of this
PG-yea, but those of who that are hated by jesus need to enjoy the holiday as well
JWD-why ?
JWD-its not their holiday
PG-the birth of jesus is nothing for me to celebrate, jesus hates me...but i still enjoy the holiday
KLK-jesus does not ghate ANYBODY
JWD-right KLK
PG-jesus hates me, i see it in the words and deeds of his believers
JWD- well sorry you feel that way PG
PG-it is the truth
JWD-if you want to believe that
KLK-believersd are just sinners forgiven but stillsinners
PG-i dont want to, but the evidence i see tells me that it is the truth
JWD- I am gay and christain, and i sure dont feel that way
JWD-nor does my religion preach that
PG-if you can get something worthwhile out of jesus then you are welcome to it, but my experience with jesus has been
miserable
JWD-were you raised Baptist, PG ?
PG-oh yea
JWD-though so
JWD- so was i.
PG-it is the 36 years since i left the baptist church that taught me that jesus hates me
JWD-been there too PG, escaped from their clutches in college
PG-the pastor at my childhood church was widely rumored to be gay
JWD-probably
PG-he greased his hair and shouted a lot
JWD-mabye he needed something else greased

it does not add up

2007-12-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

afederalgrandjuryisoverkill
There is a big fuss going on about baseball players who use steroids. And I cannot understand why.
Baseball players are entertainers. They perform on television. The money that television pays is one reason these entertainers make the outlandish amounts of money they make.
Television gets its money from selling advertising. And a prominent advertiser is Beer.
Beer is a drug. Alcohol is America's number one drug problem, by a wide margin. The statistics are easy to find, so I won't repeat them, but the bottom line is that alcohol ruins lives, breaks up families, and kills people.
Now, people say that steroids are a drug. The use of steroids is "cheating".
So, the players have to be steroid free to sell alcohol.
Athletes use their bodies to make a living. Baseball players don't abuse themselves as much as some sports, but they still push themselves. Throwing a curveball is not a natural act, and it takes a toll on a pitcher’s arm. But we allow, even encourage this kind of self abuse. If a player wants to use chemicals to enhance his performance, knowing that he is putting his future health at risk, should he be allowed to make this choice? They are required to push legal drugs when they play on television.
The players are also relentlessly tested to insure that they don't use other forms of chemical entertainment. Just like the rest of the working population in this formerly free country. And every time they play on television, they promote alcohol use.

Too Slick

2007-12-13T20:42:00.000-05:00

youcallinmeunderinformed
Sometime this thing just writes itself. Go to the internet, look for a few minutes, and something amazing hits you in the face. Like the other day when I saw the Southern Company saying ” The southeastern United States has abundant rainfall and waterways to supply water for power plants.”
The controversy du jour is Mike Huckabee and his question about Mormonism. He asked someone if Mormons believe that Jesus is the brother of Satan. In the headline department today, it is either this or a report about baseball players using steroids.
As some of you know, I spent seven years working closely with a professional Jesus Worshipper. Maybe I broke a mirror. More than once, He told me, “You are the devil”.
I don’t think I am the devil, but I could be wrong. One thing though…Jesus is not my brother.
Back to Mormonism. Is it a cult? Is it a religion? Is it a faith? Is it a mess? Who Knows?
Yes, this thing sometimes writes itself, but the editing is not automatic.
Now, I feel like I know enough about Mormonism. While I admire their clean living and family values, they do seem a bit weird. When I heard about computerized baptism by proxy of long dead relative’s…good grief. As a recovering Baptist, I know weird when I see it.
But do they really think Jesus and Satan were siblings? Did they have a sister?

There is a website called “Romney Experience”. The second line is “ Explaining Mitt and Mormonism to an Underinformed World”. Underinformed? That doesn’t sound like a compliment.
They don’t make themselves look good either.

“But let’s get down to the truth of the matter: Do Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers? You can answer that with another question: Do evangelicals believe that Mike Huckabee and Hitler are brothers? (say it with an ominous tone preferably with dark strings playing in the background). “

Some people are just too slick for their own good. And their candidate is Mitt Romney.

My story and I am sticking to it

2007-12-12T18:39:00.000-05:00

iamgoingtostayhereandwinfootballgames
You have to wonder what is next.
For longtime Falcon witnesses (Fan is too strong), you know that when you think it can't get any worse, it usually does.
I just finished reading "My story (and I'm sticking too it)". This highly entertaining book
(possibly out of print, but go to the yard sales like I did) is the autobiography of Alex Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins himself wrote it, without the aid of a ghostwriter.
Once, Mr. Hawkins stayed out a bit later than a married man should. The next day, he told his wife he didn't want to bother her, so he slept on the hammock on the back porch.
His wife mentioned that she had thrown the hammock away a week earlier.
"Thats my story and I'm sticking to it". "

Number 25 played for the Baltimore ColtsYearning to be a starter, he asked to be in the expansion draft that supplied the Atlanta Falcons with players. He got his wish.
When he met original Falcons owner Rankin Smith, someone said, of Mr. Smith, "" He's not a bad guy, he just drinks too much". " Mr. Smith was later compared to Jed Clampett.
Atlanta Stadium got a hyphen and Fulton County added to its name, was compared to the cement pond.
As Alex Hawkins describes it, the first Falcons training camp in Black Mountain N.C. was the biggest mess he has ever seen.At one point, the team returned from an pre season game, only to discover the cook had gone home.
The team went on to go 3-11 that first year, but was largely forgiven by the public. The first win was over the New York Giants in the original Yankee Stadium. The crowd was waving hankerchiefs and chanting "Good bye Allie" to the Giants coach. At least he finished the season.
This year the Dirty Birds may go 3-13. The superdoobie star quarterback is serving a 23 month prison sentence. The shirt he wore in court Monday elicited the comment; "" I wouldn't wear that to a dog fight ". "
Owner Rankin Blank is wishing he had kept selling sheetrock.
And the head coach has quit to be the new coach at the University of Arkansas. This is the same state that gave us Bill Clinton, and is offering Mike Huckabee. Now, they have a football coach that was too sorry for the Falcons.
Unless Bernie Marcus takes up Rankin Blank on his kind offer to feed Mr. Petrino to the sharks at the fishtank.

Spell check suggestions for this feature:
clampett- clamped, clemet, campest, limpet, clamfest
petrino- portion perini, petering, perrine, parting, pertain, petting, patriot, potion, patron

Merry Christmas Y'all

2007-12-11T19:38:00.001-05:00

donotorderdrinkswhileceilingisinmotion
One of the things I enjoy about Christmas is the music. There is something for just about everyone, with the possible exception of Industrial Noise.
There are songs for Jesus Fans. There are songs about Santa Claus. There is the winter weather, the jingle bells, and those pesky reindeer. And if the lyrics get too religious, it is easy to ingnore in the season of good cheer.
Between now and the big day, there is a new MP3 going up just about every day at Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Some of the favorites include:
"Merry Christmas from the Family” It starts "Mama got drunk and daddy got drunk at the Christmas party".
" Put some loot in the boot Santa " Mae West is gone but not forgotten.
"Silent Night/xmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis" There is only one Tom Waits.
"Christmas in Jail" "Santa Claus don’t go to the ghetto" " Bill O'Reilly shops at K mart""Back Door Santa"

A word to the wise. BRCM only leaves the MP3s up for seven days. If you think you will get it tomorrow then you might forget. Go now, right click, and save target as.
One went up Monday called "Faith in Santa". It is the story of Santa and the poor boy that only wanted to go be with Jesus. You will have to listen for yourself to see how it turned out.

1954 Deferment

2007-12-10T18:51:00.000-05:00

Evenifyoudidntask
I recently challenged a prominent radio whiner to come clean on his military record. In the spirit of not being a hypocrite, and with the optimistic thought that someone is interested, I have decided to do the same.
I have what I call a 1954 deferment. I didn't get a lottery number until the winter of 1973, after the Paris accords had been signed. My number was 160 (I think), which a few years earlier might have gotten me a haircut and green uniform.
I think the minimum age to sign up in those days was 17. If I had been gung ho to stop communism , I could have signed up in 1971, and pushed to be shipped to 'Nam.
The thing is, by 1971 the war was essentially over. We were trying something called "Vietnamization", which meant we were bringing the combat troops home. Mr. Kissinger was working day and night to secure an acceptable treaty, which Mr. Nixon called Peace with Honor. A few weeks before the 1972 election, the announcement was made that "Peace is at hand".
What this treaty meant was that we got our P.O.W.s back, and withdrew the last of the combat troops. Whether we got all the P.O.W.s back is a subject of controversy, with rampant speculation that some of them were kept in Asia.
The North Vietnamese troops were not required to withdraw. After a while, with Mr. Nixon distracted by Watergate and the American Public in no mood to help, "Charlie" finished the conquest of South Vietnam.
I graduated from High School in June 1972. This was in between the death of J. Edgar Hoover and the arrest of the Watergate Burglars.
The protests over the war hit a peak during the Moratorium of Autumn 1969. There was a last surge in May 1970,after the incursion into Cambodia.During this time we had the killings at Kent State, and suddenly protest didn't seem like as much fun. That combined with Vietnamization served to quiet the antiwar movement.

So I didn't go. Another fair question would be, what if I had been a few years older? The truth is, I don't know. You really don't know what you would do until you have to. Probably, I would have gone the student deferment route, or something else non confrontational to stay in North America.
In 1965, some people still believed the government when they heard we needed to stop communism . There was a draft then. The spirit of patriotism from World War II was still strong, and when a young man got a draft notice, many assumed it was their duty to help out. An estimated 88% of the fatalities in Vietnam were conscripted troops.
In the early stages of the War I supported it. In the winter of 1966, I attended a rally at Atlanta Stadium called "Affirmation Vietnam". At that time, the war protesters were seen as weirdos. It wasn't for a few more years when people realized the government was lying, and got tired of the bloodshed.
There is a lot of revisionist history about Vietnam, to the point to where I wonder if people are talking about the same conflict. (I think it is safe to assume that most wars in History are this full of confusion and wishful memory.)

Could we have won? IMO, we lost that war the day we entered. I know that by the time I was old enough to participate, it was a lost cause
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
vietnamization-vitalization, virtualization
kissinger- kissing, cosigner.

A thousand words

2007-12-09T14:58:00.000-05:00

timetoburnsomething
It was sunday on Clairmont Road. I had to go to the drug store,and the party that is Plaza Fiesta was going strong.
I went down the street later to photograph something I had seen earlier.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, or maybe 20 million visitors. The sight of a tattered stars and stripes, caught in a hole over the Mexican Flag. The Ameican symbol was tearing a hole ever larger, while preventing the Mexican emblem from fully unfurling. There is a statement in that. Maybe it is a inkblot test, and you see what you want to see. Or, more likely, never notice in the mad rush to get to I 85.
A few paces further south is a sign. These are paces south, not east or west.
The question is an issue Mary Magdalene had to face.

Reply From BOORTZ

2007-12-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

bettertogivethanrecieve
When I got home friday, there was a bulky envelope with no return address. I more or less knew what it was before I opened it.
Inside the envelope were the gift cards, my letter, and a note from "BOORTZ". The note is reproduced above.
This was my reply:

12/7/2007
Dear BOORTZ,
I received my gift cards back in the mail today.
I got a note saying that I need to “ learn something about giving”.
I did. When you offer a gift, it is not always wanted.

The cards I sent have been piling up unused. While I did not go to any effort to buy them, I did package them and send them. I felt that what you were going to do with the troops was worthwhile, and I wanted to help.
While making this donation, I felt obligated to tell the painful truth. Mr. Boortz has made a career of loudly saying provocative things. He can dish it out but He cannot take it.

I think anyone who gives has known to have your gift rejected.
To have it not be good enough, and returned with a snide note.
I have heard reports about wounded troops asked to repay their signing bonus. I have also heard about inadequate care they are receiving. They have given a lot more than I have.
Mr. Boortz has the right to say whatever he pleases. This right was secured for him by the sacrifices of our soldiers. He can beat the drums of war all he wants, and many will cheer him on.
I would just like to know the truth about what happened to him when he was draft age, and we were losing 100 men a week in Vietnam. (An estimated 88% of those fatalities were conscripted soldiers)
That is the painful truth.

Why did they tape this?

2007-12-07T14:27:00.000-05:00

It seems as though our "intelligence" officers have destroyed some videos they made of an interrogation. (Why do I suspect that someone has a copy?)
The official story is that the tapes were destroyed to prevent outing the agents involved.
The general speculation is that the tapes were destroyed because the showed the guest of honor, Abu Zubaydah, being tortured.
Another line of thought has it that Mr. Zubaydah implicated some members of the Saudi royal family.
Now, there are enough tangents in this story to teach a graduate Geometry class. There is plenty of time to expound on them.

I do have one question:
Why was the interrogation videotaped?
And if it was, why weren't the videos quietly destroyed when they were no longer useful.
One of the things about the Abu Ghraib scandal was the evidence produced by the soldiers involved. It would seem to be common sense that if you are going to torture a detainee, you do not want a video record. Much has been made about how waterboarding leaves no visable marks on the guest. Why use these "stealth" techniques if you are going to make a video?
Was Genarlow Wilson working for the agency at this time?
HT to ATLmalcontent for this story.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
atlmalcontent- AT malcontent
Zubaydah- (no spelling suggestions)
Ghraib- Grab, Grail, grain, gray, grabs
waterboarding- weatherboarding
visable- visible, viable
Genarlow- Gnarled, gearbox, generous, general

Moloudzadeh Update

2007-12-05T19:18:00.000-05:00

urgentactionisneededbynow

Makwan Moloudzadeh is back in the spotlight.
Yesterday, I got a comment to a post, "The Search for Makwan Moloudzadeh". The comment, from "Anonymous" was a link to a report that the death sentence on Mr. Moloudzadeh had been reinstalled.
What is interesting about this is the post was on two blogs...Chamblee54 and my Alternative Blog, which is not safe for work. The comment was made to the NSFW blog.
A further synchronicity is my curiosity about Mr. Moloudzadeh yesterday. I looked on google, and saw no new reports. My post is number four from the top.
I wondered at the time what the true motivation for executing Mr. Moloudzadeh was. I suspect that he offended some powerful people, and the charge of lavat as a teenager was a handy excuse to off him. I continue to suspect this, and to suspect the entire campaign to save him. If you look at that link, you see a drawing of a heart. The word we (in English) is above it and the name Makwan at the bottom. Is this a common symbol in Iran?
Now, if he is truly being executed at age 21 for a sex act performed at the age of 13, then that is an outrage and disgrace on a number of levels. If the Government is using this as a handy excuse to off an enemy of the state, or merely someone who offended a person in power, then this is also wrong and should be loudly condemned.

There are two more layers of coincidence here. One involves an Atlanta Blogger, who I will call Mr. Content, or MC. I left a comment at MCs' page yesterday about Mrs. Slickwillie, our potential future Presidentess. In my first draft, I was going to make an off topic comment about Makwan Moloudzadeh, and whether or not MC had heard anything more about him and his fate. When I wrote the comment, I deleted the off topic part.
The second coincidence is the NIE report of Iran's nuclear program that was released yesterday. There had been much speculation that this report, and the Iranian nuclear program which it concerned, was going to justify an attack on Iran. At the time of MCs' original post about Makwan Moloudzadeh, I speculated that the concern about Mr. Moloudzadeh was part of the buildup to this war. Now, it appears that the movement to nuke Iran has suffered a setback. And Makwan Moloudzadeh has a date with the hangman.

Update to the Update: According to MC, the sentence was carried out at 5am Iran time Wednesday.This would put the hanging at 9pm Eastern Time Tuesday Night.
The entire story may never be known.
This is a sad moment.

sallygoroundtherosestherosestheywontbotheryou
MC made a comment at my blog yesterday. It regards a feature I published about a teddy bear in Sudan. It seems that some of the local population was disturbed by this critter. I made the comment" At least they believe". MC was not pleased.
Now, belief in and of itself is not always a good thing. There are two things to remember here about the verb believe.
Believe is a seven letter word. The middle three letters of this word are LIE.
The first three words of the soliloquy by Miss Teen Age South Carolina are "I personally believe”.

If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Sudan Follies

2007-12-04T19:52:00.000-05:00

clicheabuseantabuse
So the lady is back in the U.K. now from the Sudan. They didn't send her to prison for allowing her students to name a Teddy Bear Mohammed..
What if it had been a Barbie doll?
There were mobs rioting about the whole affair. These peeps were demanding her execution for "insulting the prophet". Or so the reports would have us believe.
Since I don't understand the local language, I just have to trust what the tv reporterdude tells me. When a bunch of clerics gets the local population to rioting, my question is...what did they really say? These people are probably mostly poor and illiterate, and likely to believe whatever nonsense their religious leaders feed them.
At least they believe. What is that saying? If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything

Please Update

2007-12-03T20:08:00.000-05:00

whatoneartharetheythinking
Many observers are now aware that the mussels in Apalachicola Bay are a red herring. While wildlife in that corner of the world is important, a more important reason for sending lots of water downstream is the generation of electricity.
I was curious what The Southern Company had to say about being the largest user of water in the State. And I found this jaw dropper: "The southeastern United States has abundant rainfall and waterways to supply water for power plants. As with any natural resource, we strive to use water responsibly.Electricity generation requires large amounts of water to produce steam, remove heat, or power hydroelectric turbines. Some of the water naturally evaporates — what you see rising out of the large cooling towers at power plants is water vapor. Some of the water at power plants is cooled and reused. Most of the water is returned back to its source.".
I have questions. Has the Southern Company ever planned for a water shortage? Is there a way to generate electricity that uses less water?Did they think the party was never going to stop?
The Southern Company is a neo government institution, which supplies electricity. The people of the south depend on them for a vital resource. The shareholders make a handsome profit on their considerable investment. How wise has this company been?
According to the site, the majority of the water used is returned to the river. While this is good for the aquatic life in Florida, the majority of the generating plants are south of Buford Dam, where the water is not available for flushing commodes in East Cobb. (Bathroom spray is not needed in that area)
The Southern Company uses hydroelectric, as well as coal and nuclear fired. All three have environmental issues. Hydroelectric is the most benign, but still needs to use water which flows downstream. As a result, the water is not available for watering Dunwoody shrubbery. Nuclear is clean when it works, but is expensive. Nukes require intense regulation by big government, and can literally kill all of us if things go wrong. Coal plants burn fossil fuel, and pump megatons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
When using Nukes and Coal, the company builds a fire. Water is boiled on this reaction and turned into steam, which then drives turbines. It takes a lot of water for this to happen, much more than for a mussel to go swimming.
And how much of this steam is distilled into water, and how much is released into the atmosphere? We have to take the companies word on this.

Have you ever wondered why the Southern Company runs those annoying commercials? Maybe those ad dollars are protection money, and serve to thwart critical scrutiny. This might be another reason why the water talk is about mussels and not about Nuclear Power Plants.

Marathon Update

2007-11-30T23:47:00.001-05:00

it never ends

2007-11-30T12:04:00.001-05:00

Dinner and Lunch

2007-11-28T19:37:00.001-05:00

chaosandordergowelltogether
These two images are known as Dinner and Lunch.
Dinner is an offshoot of another mandala based image. When I finished the first image, I thought about having a ring of chevrons chasing each other. After several tries at drawing this, it came together, and the details started to work themselves out.
About this time, there was another image I was working on during my lunch hour. It involved using the round interlocking tiles, but with a second box inside the first box. The second box would have its flat side on the inside of the box, instead of the outside as I had been doing. It took a while to get this to work, which was fine. This was something to play with at lunch, and the more time it ate up the better. Finally, this image started to work, and one day I added some lines to form random shapes around the boxes. This image was appealing, and I decided to email it home and develop it. This image would be known as Lunch, because of where it came. The other image became known as dinner, because it was not breakfast.
I decide to produce these two images at the same time. This took a few weeks, but one day it was done.
Both are 13”x17”, and should be viewed while lit from behind.

Letter to Neal Boortz

2007-11-26T20:00:00.001-05:00

theliesmakeyouevenmadder
It is grossout confession time. I listen to Neal Boortz. I have not wrecked the truck yet. The closest I came to that was when Mike Vick said he had found Jesus during his post indictment press conference.
Mrs. Boortz has a project going. She is going to Walter Reed Hospital soon, and is going to be giving gift cards to the wounded vets there. (If you want to send a gift card, here is the address:
Walter Reed Project
c/o Neal Boortz
WSB Radio
1601 W. Peachtree Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30309)
There were gift cards that I never got around to using, so I decided to send them down to White Columns. And, I wrote a little letter:

The person who reads the mail/Mr. Boortz:

These are some gift cards I have. I don’t like to use them, and giving them to a wounded veteran is a good idea.
I am one of the “Liberals” that you have made lots of money denouncing. I should ask for a cut.
The war in Iraq is a disaster. I think you know this, even if you are paid to say otherwise. I don’t believe the happy talk about “the surge is working, we are winning”. This talk is part of the strategy.

I would like to ask a few favors of Mr. Boortz.
Answer your e mail. All you need to do is send an automated message that your received it, and thanks for listening to the show. Of course, If you want to reply to the substance of the message, that is fine too.
Come clean about your military record. I see no mention on your website biography about exactly why you did not go to ‘Nam. Being an assistant jewelry buyer at Rich’s, and working at RING radio, while rough experiences, are not quite the same. (Of course, If you ate at the Burger Chef in front of WRNG, you are tough. I did phone soliciting in that complex.) Back to the draft…you are a tireless promoter of the current war, and are trying to start more in Iran , Pakistan,and Buford Dam. When it was your turn to fight, you did not. If it was a medical condition that kept you from the draft, you seem to have made a remarkable recovery.Playing hockey, running half marathons, and climbing mountains are not things that disqualify you from active duty.
Be nice to Belinda. She is the best thing about that show.
Repeat as often as possible the disclaimer about not believing what you hear on the show. That is the one part of your show I do believe.
Be glad you are on opposite Laura Ingraham and Glenn Beck. Compared to those two you are downright reasonable.
Visit my blog from time to time. While you get lots of play out of trashing “liberals”, I get my revenge by writing about it. Blogs are talk radio without the busy signal. The address is http://www.chamblee54.blogspot.com/.

All kidding aside, the job your wife is doing for wounded vets is commendable. And my radio has an off button, so it is my fault if I listen.
Cam Mckinnon/chamblee54
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Belinda-blinder, blind, blend, blender, bellied, belied
grossout- grossest, grout
nam-am, name, Naomi, nab, nag, nah, nap, nat, nay

Atlanta Marathon

2007-11-22T10:26:00.001-05:00

Redacted

2007-11-20T20:57:00.000-05:00

Youputyourrightfootinyouput
I was listening to the radio whiners today, and they were doing publicity for a movie called "Redacted".
Until today, I knew very little about it. It is about the rape/murder of a young girl in Iraq by a crew of American troops. This is a sorry episode, but the sort of thing you can expect in a war. I am surprised we have not had more stories like this. When the My Lai affair came to light and Lt. Calley was court martialled, a frequently quoted defense was "this happens all the time".
A prominent radio whiner named Michael Medved doubles as a movie critic. His opinion of "Redacted" was liberally quoted today, and through the miracle of internet copy paste it is available for my use.
For the record, Mr. Medved was draft age during Vietnam. To quote his biography "Medved enrolled in Yale Law School after winning a generous fellowship, while teaching 7th and 8th grade three hours a day to earn an "occupational deferment" with the Vietnam era Selective Service System."
Backted to "Redacted". Mr. Medved has evolved into a self proclaimed conservative, and a supporter of the War in Babylon. He did not appreciate "Redacted". This is his right as a pundit/critic, although in the legal system this conflict of interests would cause him to excuse himself. Where Mr. Medved goes too far is with this comment:" Nowhere does DePalma indicate that the chief victims of the so-called insurgents aren’t US forces, but Iraqi civilians. All reputable sources show Iraqi terrorists taking the lives of far more of their countrymen then American troops have claimed, and there’s no sane basis to expect that this murderous rampage will magically cease once our soldiers come home. The idea that the US remains in Iraq in order to torment and dominate Iraqis – rather than to protect innocent civilians from the monstrous cruelty of Islamo-Nazi killers – remains one of the big lies of the anti-war movement."
Huh? Holy rhetoric Batman. If it weren’t for the American invasion, would there be insurgents? Or, for that matter, foreign fighters aka Al Queda? Maybe these fighters are offing more Iraqi Civilians than Americans. That doesn't justify the rape/murder of a teen age girl by American forces.
The Iraqi people, who are fighting back, also note this brutality by Al Queda. This is the one part of the much vaunted surge success that I can believe, that Al Queda has gone too far. The simple truth remains that the primary reason these fighters are in Iraq is to fight Americans...if there had not been an invasion, these fighters would be somewhere else.
I have no plans to see "Redacted", despite all the lovely publicity from the wingnut fringe. Of course, if this post makes someone want to see the movie...
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Lai-Al, La, Lao, lay, laid,lab, lad, lag, lap, law,
Calley- called, caller, caleb, alley, galley, valley
martialled-marital, marmalade
Medved- meddled
DePalma- deplane, diploma
wingnut- WinNT

Turkey Day Aftermath

2007-11-16T22:40:00.001-05:00

tistheseasontobejolly
With Turkey Day next week, the Christmas season is in full swing. And so is the whining about the "War on Christmas".
Growing up, Christmas was great. The gift giving, the parties, the good cheer was great. There was a strong Christian element to it, but it was easy to ignore in the merriment. Sad to say, those days are over.
Some are not happy that Christmas is partially about the "Birth of Jesus". There is a reason for the quotes, but we will get there in a minute. No, the noise machines want it to be ALL about Jesus, which has never been the case.
True, the lawsuit happy secular crowd has a part in this. Municipal displays of Jesus Whoopee are easy to ignore, but some want them eliminated. And now the Jesus Only crowd is fighting back, and those who just want to enjoy the holidays are caught in the crossfire.
But is it really the Birthday of Jesus? There is one chance in 365 that it is. The scholars say that Jesus was most likely born in the spring. Now look at the time of our celebration...three days after the winter solstice. The solstice was a time of pagan celebrations in Rome, and the holiday was used as a festival for the "Birth of Jesus". The end of the year, a time when the year’s growth is at a low point, but ready to come back in the spring. One could even say that the spring celebration of Easter is about this renewal.
And, if we know the exact day Jesus was born on, why is Easter a different day every year?
Did Joseph think it was his kid?
Lets bring back Christmas like it used to be. If the Jesus Worshippers want to scream about their buddy, they can. If others want to shop and eat, they can. Let there be peace on earth and good will towards men.

maybethiswillshutsomeoneup
The news from Iran is that Makwan Moloudzadeh will not be executed.
This is good news on the surface. I still suspect there is more to this that we don't know. I certainly hope that Mr. Moloudzadeh is not abducted by an anonymous death squad, rather than a public execution.
Now, as to "don't you look foolish right about now." No, I don't. I have written extensively about this, and have shed what light I can on the subject. Of course, the person who made this statement doesn't read this blog.
I would prefer to look foolish and have one less victim to homophobic capital punishment, if that is the choice. Foolishness in the blogosphere is in ample supply.

less intelligent than a young goat

2007-11-15T22:24:00.000-05:00

baaaaaaaaabaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Iranian fashion icon Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has done it again.
Speaking of those who disagree with him, he opined
”The whole world has been created for that holy day to occur [the Islamic Armageddon]. The day in which all the prophets and martyrs and good people will arrive and will help. Some people ridicule this. They have no faith in their hearts. These are modern idolaters and devil worshipers. They pretend to be intellectuals but are in fact less intelligent than a young goat.”
On a lighter note, Barry Bonds was indicted for perjury. Now, lying under oath is not a good idea, but why on earth was a federal grand jury investigating steroids in sports?
This reminds me of the trouble our future first philanderer got in a few years ago. Now, lying about having an affair was not socially acceptable, but why was a grand jury investigating that? It just makes you wonder why Hillary wants the job now.

Governor Sonny prays for Rain

2007-11-14T22:24:00.000-05:00

blesshishearthemeanswell
Governor Sonny had a Jesus party on the capital steps to pray for rain. On the surface this is not so terrible. But then, the surface of Lake Lanier is 20 feet below normal.
Governor Sonny was elected on a promise to have a referendum on the state flag. That is putting the dumb back in referendum. He was appealing to Georgia Voters.
The state flag has been a hot issue here since about 1993, when Governor Zigzag listened to somebody and decided to start pushing for a change. This is a complicated issue, with a lot of pros and cons, not to mention prose and poets. If prozac had been invented...oops it was. Anywaste, I fully intend to write a post someday about the State Flag, and no one will read it.
Of course, the Lesterslature could have built some reservoirs while it was debating the flag. Then we would have a bit more water to waste while we are praying. But, as Rhett Butler might have said, Frankly my dear, I don’t give a reservoir.
Those attempts at spelling reservoir are going to be fun to correct. Just remember that reservoir comes from reserve. If only the Lesterslature had known that.
Back to the state flag. As everyone knows, it was changed in 1956 as a gesture to let Alabama know that we were going to keep all the water from the Chattahoochee. Their nuclear power plant can just melt down and go to China for all we care.
With this in mind, can anyone blame the Lesterslature for not seeking additional sources of water? After all, they were debating something of unspeakable importance, like the state flag.
We could have sold advertising on the state flag.
Of course, being the politician that he is, Governor Sonny didn't put the 1956 on the ballot when he had the referendum. You knew I was a scorpion when you gave me a ride.
Last year, a state court threw out a ban on gay marriage. Something about being in violation of the rest of the constitution, but a few of us suspected that the Lesterslature passed a flawed bill intentionally. That way, the courts could throw it out, and the Lesterslature could grandstand on gay marriage one more time, and decry activist courts to boot. A win win situation, until the Supreme Court upheld the ban on gay marriage.
Governor Sonny spoke up, and promised a special session of the Lesterslature to pass a new ban on gay marriage, if the old one was indeed unconstitutional.
While the Lesterslature was defending the institution of marriage (like Groucho Marx said, We are defending her honor, which is more than she ever did), they had a chance to put some limits on development. Now, development is the true religion of Georgia, and this is a devout state. Never mind that whenever you replace a forest that never needs watering with a subdivision full of commodes and landscaping, you increase the need for municipal water. Perhaps if our elected officials had put a few limits on runaway construction, we would have a bit more water now. And the developers would still give them campaign contributions, because they are such wise leaders.
Maybe Governor Sonny should pray for forgiveness. But then, you can't flush a commode with forgiveness.

Spell check suggestions for this feature-
prozac- prosaic
Rhett- ret, rest, whet, reheat, ghetto, brett, rent, retch, hat, heft
Groucho- grouch, grouchy

Rate the Readability of your Blog

2007-11-12T21:40:00.000-05:00

ithoughtitwasmiddleschool

Ok, I am throwing out the Veterans Day post I worked on at lunch. Or maybe not.
I did see something amusing at The Field Negro. FN is a regular stop, and he usually makes for fun reading. I just wish he would quit saying A merry CA when he means Amerika.
So, he posted a site that will rate the readability of your blog. I don't know how this works, but FN is a graduate college student level.
Chamblee 54 is JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. Maybe it is the text to pictures ratio, which is high at my site.

Veteran's Day is a bad day for a cynic.
On the one hand, I do appreciate living in The United States. With all its flaws, I have had a good life here, and the role that Veterans have played is to be honored.
On the other hand, politicians who deftly avoided the unpleasant reality of service often exploit Veterans for political mojo.
Veterans are often not treated well after they are through with their service. It is estimated that a quarter of the homeless are veterans. The services offered to wounded veterans returning from War is often lacking.
When I typed the second sentence, I thought of my great grandfather. He served with the Georgia State Troops in the War Between the States. I do prefer the USA to the CSA ( or whatever would have happened). Yet, the Union army had to prevail over the various Confederate Armies for this to happen. Do I dishonor my great grandfather by saying I am happy the other side won?
Veterans Day was originally Armistice Day. This was the day, 90 years ago, when the War to End All Wars ended.
World War I was a ghastly bloodbath, in which Millions died. It created many of the problems that plague us today. And I would be willing to bet that not one person in ten thousand today knows what it was about.
And yet, the men who fought in that conflict ( I don't think they had women soldiers then) deserve the same gratitude as those who fought in any other conflict.
The soldier...many of whom were drafted...doesn't get to choose which war to fight in. The sacrifice of the World War II soldier was just as great as the Vietnam fighter, but the appreciation given was much greater.
I grew up during Vietnam, and saw the national mood go from patriotic fight to dismayed resistance. By the time I was old enough to get drafted, the Paris accords had been signed. For better or worse, there went my chance.

Norman Mailer passed away the other day. His old sparring partner Gore Vidal said “Yet of all my contemporaries I retain the greatest affection for Norman as a force and as an artist. He is a man whose faults, though many, add to rather than subtract from the sum of his natural achievements." The World War II generation is leaving us at a rapid pace. Time is doing what Hitler could not do.

Eight things about Seven

2007-11-10T14:41:00.001-05:00

sevenisaluckynumber
seven deadly sins- lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride
seven holy virtues- chastity, abstinence, temperance, diligence, patience, kindness
seven goddesses- isis, astarte, hecate, demeter, kali, iana, diana
seven dwarfs- bashful, doc, dopey, grumpy, happy, sleepy, sneezy

sevenisaprimenumber

seven brides- Alice, Dorcas, Liza, Martha, Millie, Sarah, Ruth
seven brothers- Adam, Benjamin, Caleb, Daniel, Ephraim, Frank, Gideon
seven husbands of Elizabeth Taylor- Nicky Hilton, Micheal Wilding, Micheal Todd, Eddie Fisher, Richard Burton(twice), John Warner, Larry Fortensky (The American Film Institute named Taylor seventh among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time.)
Luke 17:4-If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him.

blogworld or bust

2007-11-08T18:59:00.001-05:00

boothsnowavailablenexttotheslotmachines
Man, I am missing out.
Today is the first day of the Blogworld and New media expo at the Las Vegas convention ctr. The slogan is "be more influential be more effective be more connected be more at blogworld."
Now, the average corner in the hood has more followers than my blog. But I don’t let that inconvenient truth get in the way.
In other news, Iran is holding a French filmmaker in jail. She found some mass graves. There is also a picture circulating of Mahmoud Ahmadinejah in a meeting with Ayatollah Khomeni. And you wondered how he learned to be such a snappy dresser.
Back to blogworld. Today there will be a panel discussion on "Raising the level of discourse in the political blogosphere" Gee, I thought you could do that by talking to a snake. One of the panel peeps will be Michael Medved. He is a radio whiner I listen to while making a semi honest living on the lawless streets of mayretta.
Lots of folks are saying that the surge is working in Babylon. As soon as this is said, there is usually a complaint about the media not reporting the "good news". This is a tipoff that what is being said is less/more than the truth.
There is an old saying...in war, the first casualty is truth. The lies started before the initial invasion, and have not stopped since.
I have been lied to so much, I don't believe a word I am told.

commercial break

2007-11-05T19:25:00.000-05:00

whyisthatherotruckblockingfourlanesoftraffic
I was stuck in a traffic pileup on the expressway. The Patriots and the Colts were in the fourth quarter, and the Pats scored two touchdowns in four minutes to totally confound the point spread. But, a football game has lots of commercials, and my itchy fingers found the Allen Hunt show on another station.( Through internet research, I have learned that Mr. Hunt is a Patriots fan. Such Irony!)
Allen Hunt is a baldheaded professional Jesus Worshipper. He has good writers, and he reads their lines with conviction..."its not about left or right, its about right or wrong...where faith and real life come together"
On this night, he has a guest. He introduces him as "Erik, my nemesis". Erik is the force behind allenhuntshowsucks.com, a blogspot page that does not agree with AH (what great initials).
I listen to as much of the show as I can take. Mr. Hunt likes the sound of his own voice. He talks a lot, and then more. Then he gave Erik a chance to talk, and interrupted him with a question before he could finish a sentence.
I have decided, through much observation, that Jesus Worshippers are rude people. Mr. Hunt did not change my mind. I would be interested in what Erik had to say, but Mr. Hunt never gave him much of a chance.
What does Mr. Hunt's rudeness say about Jesus?

The Search for Makwan Moloudzadeh

2007-11-03T22:57:00.000-04:00

wheninthecourseofhumanevents
A few days ago I got into a mini battle with a local blogger called AtlMalcontent. To make a short story even shorter, he posted about Makwan Moloudzadeh, an Iranian man scheduled to be executed for having Lavat (anal sex) when he was 13 years old. AM said he was 14, when in fact he is 21. I objected to this, said a few things about Amnesty International, which AM objected to.
A good time was had by all, with the possible exception of Mr. Moloudzadeh.
My curiosity was aroused. I looked in Google for more information, and found out a few things.
The Internet being the omnivore that it is, when you go looking for something, you are liable to find anything. Keep a grain of salt handy.
The bad news is, I learned little new about Makwan Moloudzadeh or Amnesty International. Most of the google entries( my post was number 15) are a rehashing of the Amnesty Report, with little new information. I still have questions as to why the government (is it local, regional, or national?) is pulling this case out of the files 8 years after the fact. I suspect that some bigshot has a problem with Mr. Moloudzadeh, and this is a handy charge to throw at him. This would not be an inspiring call to arms.
I did find a site by Amnesty that listed Mr. Moloudzadeh. He is not shown any priority over the other cases listed on the page. Amnesty seems to have a reasonable balance, with cases from literally all over the world. I had been concerned that maybe they were showing preferred treatment to the Moloudzadeh case to win favor with the Bush Regime.
The original post by Malcontent had a link to Kamingir. He is an Iranian national living in Canada, and has quite a lively site. There are lots of pictures of people being hung, including a fortune teller in Qom. Evidently fortune tellers aren't the magnets for activism that gays are.
Gayswithoutborders is an activist group on the order of Amnesty International or Medecins Sans Frontieres. GWB (note initials) has a story on "Alex". He fled Iran to live in Greece, where he met his lover. Now, he is fighting deportation back to Iran. There is another story about the problems faced by Gays in US occupied Iraq.
Stopchildexecutions is a myspace page that tries to do what its name says. As mentioned above, the hangman is busy in Iran, and they don't have a problem with executing minors. "While we are gathered by the fire singing Christmas songs, I want the children in the cold prison cells in Iran to know that they are not forgotten. I want them to feel hope that they have another chance at life. We are a completely volunteer based organization, so every penny goes directly to the campaign." said Nazanin.

According to the United Nations, a child is a person under the age of 18. Despite the fact that the government of Iran has signed International Covenants that forbid them to execute anyone who has allegedly committed an offence before the age of 18, they continue to do so. Amnesty International has documented 24 executions of child offenders in Iran since 1990. In many cases, these minors have been imprisoned until the age of 18 and then executed. Currently, there are over 80 minors on death row in Iran. "
TheGayDissenter is a german-english affair. In meiner Anmerkung zu JK Rowlings Dumbledore-Outing hatte ich mich gefragt:

nowforthereallygoodstuff
As a reward to all of those who have read this far, the last two sites I will link to are a lot of fun. Proceed At Own Risk is a ribald New Yukker, with lots of great pictures. He has a post called "Islam, Gay Genocide and George W. Bush", which is not complimentary of our fearless leader. Apparently the persecution of Gays is more widespread than Iran. "Considering that insanely wealthy and grotesquely oil-powerful barbaric nations like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are among our closest allies--and that their royal families are among the close personal friends of the Bush and Cheney families, one has to wonder just how much these artifacts of Medieval times inform Bush administration policy when it comes to the treatment of gay Americans...The United States devotes billions of dollars of the world's most advanced military technology and American troops to function as private security forces for the absolute monarchs of these nations in exchange for control of the oil fields. And no one in Washington--Republican or Democrat-- seems particularly troubled by the fact that when they pull their cars, limos and SUV's into the nearest gas station, they're not pumping gas, rather they are pumping the blood of gay children."
This is on top of a tribute to the Empire State Building titled "The ESB: My Favorite Erection".
Then there is QueerJihad. What a great name for something. And they are jam packed with hours of entertainment. There is the story of Fatah and Hamas seeking to discredit each other by releasing videos of officials in compromising situations.
There are quotes from Ayatollah Khomeini
A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However he should not penetrate, sodomising the child is OK. If the man penetrates and damages the child then he should be responsible for her subsistence all her life. This girl, however does not count as one of his four permanent wives.
The man will not be eligible to marry the girls sister.
From Khomeini's book, "Tahrirolvasyleh", fourth volume, Darol
Elm, Gom, Iran, 1990
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is better for a girl to marry in such a time when she would
begin menstruation at her husband's house rather than her father's home. Any father marrying his daughter so young will have a permanent place in heaven.
From Khomeini's book, "Tahrirolvasyleh", fourth volume, Darol
Elm, Gom, Iran, 1990
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A man can have sex with animals such as sheep, cows, camels and so on.
However he should kill the animal after he has his orgasm. He
should not sell the meat to the people in his own village, however
selling the meat to the next door village should be fine.

From Khomeini's book, "Tahrirolvasyleh", fourth volume, Darol
Elm, Gom, klkibv Iran, 1990

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If one commits the act of sodomy with a cow, a ewe, or a
camel, their urine and their excrements become impure, and
even their milk may no longer be consumed. The animal must
then be killed and as quickly as possible and burned."

The little green book, Sayings of Ayatollah Khomeini,
Political, Phylosophica, Social and Religious with a special
introduction by Clive Irving, ISBN number 0-553-14032-9, page
47

There was this tidbit:
TWO men in Saudi Arabia have been sentenced to 7000 lashes each after being convicted of sodomy and have received their first round of punishment in public, a newspaper said today.

At one point in this weeks discussion, Malcontent said thus: "Amnesty requires scrutiny? Would you be saying that if they publicized a similar incident in, say, Saudi Arabia (one of our alleged allies)?
Back to QueerJihad, which is more fun than feeding Mike Vick to a room of starving pit bulls.
Aside from lots of stories about Arab/Persian men who enjoy the company of other men, there is the stories of what the soldiers are finding in Afghanistan.Culturally, Afghanistan seems to share some of the traits of the ancient Greeks. According to one Afghan soldier, "Women are for babies, and men are for pleasure." This place American, British and Australian special operators in a unique and precarious predicament in how to deal with southern Afghanistan's flagrantly homosexual community, which appeared to be quite extensive, especially in the isolated mountainous regions of Afghanistan.
"Well..with this new development...the SF 1 Qualification Course developers at Fort Bragg are now going to have to incorporate a new lesson: how to deal with gays in an unconventional warfare environment", said one of the Green Berets.
British Marines also had their share of interactions with the 'Girly boys". According to journalist Chris Stephen, British Marines had sent patrols into the mountains near the town of Khost, hoping to catch up with AQ suspects who the week before had fought a four-hour gun battle with soldiers of the Australian SAS. When they came out of the mountains, they claim they were swarmed by local farmers, who stroked their hair, offered to paint their toenails, and propositioned them for sex.
"They were more terrifying then the AQ. One bloke who had painted toenails was offering to paint ours," recalled Marine James Fletcher.
"It was hell," added British Marine Corporal Paul Richard. "Every village we went to, we got a group of men wearing makeup coming out, stroking our hair and cheeks and making kissing noises. Some of the guys turned tail and fled. It was hideous."

"I think a lot of the problem is that they don't have the women around a lot," said one British Marine.

spell check suggestions for this feature:
Qom- com, mom, tom, yom, eom
myspace- misplace, misspoke
Cheney- Cheyenne, teeny
limos- limas, limes, limbs, limps
Vick- Vicki, vice,

When 14 turns out to be 21

2007-11-01T19:46:00.000-04:00

warpedworldviewweeklyworldnews
The headline of the post was eye catching..."If a 14-year-old boy is hanged in Iran, does anybody hear it? . It gets better as you read, and the call for action got the attention of this cynic reporter. There is only one problem...he is 21.
Now, I don't know what I think.
A bit of background is in order. Makwan Moloudzadeh has been sentenced to death by hanging. He is accused of anally raping a 13 year old boy. He himself was 13 at the time. Several of the witnesses against him have recanted their testimony.
This is the sort of thing the government in Iran does. There was a well documented case of some teenagers hung to death for the crime of homosexual acts.

My first comment was a bit of this and that, about how we might be doing more harm than good by protesting...as if the beards in Iran care what a slack blogger in Georgia thinks. Nonetheless, my conscience told me I should do something, and so I looked at the Amnesty International report...and found the news that Makwan Moloudzadeh was born in 1986. He was 13 at the time of the alleged rape. He was not 14, as the bloodcurdling headline read, but 21.
Now, to be executed at 21 for something you did (supposedly) when you were 13 is reprehensible. However, it does not have the same sting to it as hanging a 14yo. Discovering that error was an AHA moment. It made me question a few more things about the case.
"The headline of this piece is not accurate. Mr. Moloudzaden is 21, not 14.
The alleged rape occurred in 1999, when both Mr. Moloudzadeh and the reputed victim were 13.
Now, this raises all sorts of questions, which go above and beyond the (fairly certain) mistreatment of Gays in Iran...even if Mr. Ahmadinejad's translator said these peeps don't exist.
To execute someone eight years after the fact ,for a crime committed at age 13, is pretty outrageous. Even for a rowdy regime like the one in charge in Iran.
I suspect there is something about this we are not being told. Is Mr. Moloudzadeh a dissident, or the relative of dissidents? Is he accused of something else? Why would a government pull a charge like that out of the archives?
If there is more to this story, then it does not speak well for Amnesty International to be publicizing it. Maybe they are the organization that needs a bit of scrutiny.
Or maybe they are trying to curry favor with the Government in Washington. There is little doubt that some elements of our government would like to see military action against Iran. We are in a pre war phase, where one of the goals is to create ill will against the enemy du jour. While it is true that our government will not nuke Iran to save gays ( We destroyed that village to save it), stories like this will create ill will against the government there, and could, in the long run, contribute to military action against Iran. And yes, this action would kill a lot of civilians.
If we really want to help the gays in Iran, maybe we should insure that Amnesty International is not exploiting them for their own purposes.
I just may have gone too far with that comment. I looked at the Amnesty Website a few minutes ago( the parts that were working), and saw no mention about Mr. Moloudzadeh on the home page, or the "take action" page. I don't know how or why it is getting the attention it is getting here.
I do stand by my statement that Amnesty International is not above suspicion. While they do have a long history, they can make mistakes. Also, many such organizations can get more into turf battles and fund raising than the actual work they exist for.
There is also the possibility that Amnesty is seeking to give the appearance of "balance". Since I imagine they are concerned with the issue of torture and other abuses by the American war machine, it might be a good idea to look at the practices of the enemies of America.
But, so much of this is the disappointment in finding out that Mr. Moloudzadeh is seven years older than first represented. The idea of executing a teenager is abhorrent to most of us, and gets a lot of attention. I felt I had been led on when I found out he was really 21, even though the facts are essentially the same.
Sometimes images are more important than the reality behind them. It can hurt your ability to trust when you find out they are not completely true.

mamaahmadinejadmadedinner
Later in the day....
I wrote the above stuff at lunch. I get home to discover a post by AtlMalcontent about my "warped world view " ( Is that the new publication from the people who gave us "Weekly World News"?)
First, though, I wanted to take another view at the Amnesty website. Apparently the Moloudzadeh situation is not a priority with Amnesty International. It is not mentioned on the home page or the "Act Now" page. I don't know how many cases they are following now, or what the criteria are for being listed.
I may have been in error in suggesting that Amnesty was currying favor with the Bush administration. I maintain that they are not above suspicion, and do sometimes make mistakes.
I also say in my defense that I used the phrase "maybe" to describe this suspicion. This is not the same as a hard core accusation. And, If I hadn't had the AHA moment of discovering thatMr. Moloudzadeh is 21 instead of 14, I might not have even speculated about the role of Amnesty International.
Now, for the rest of this. When I say that persecution of Gays in Iran is "Fairly certain", I mean exactly that. How this is being taken for a sign of doubt is puzzling.
"Wouldn't you be at least a little concerned if they acquired nuclear weapons?"
Yes, I would, but I am also concerned that our government is using that issue to rush us into another disastrous war. I also fail to see the connection between Mr. Moloudzadeh and nukes...except that Mr. Moloudzadeh is a Kurd, and would probably be early victims of an Iranian nuke.
And, for the record, I think the scheduled execution of Makwan Moloudzadeh is a disgrace. To execute a MAN for a crime committed when he is 13 years old is horrible. The fact that it is because of Gay Sex only makes it worse. Affairs like this are an argument against the death penalty, no matter what kind of society it is in. This affair speaks very poorly for Iran.

Torture and the Governor

2007-10-29T19:04:00.000-04:00

wehavewaysofmakingyoutalk
On September 26 of this year, I wrote about a group called "Consistent Life". They take the position that all human life is sacred, and should not be ended by another human being. At the time, I suggested some other areas of attention for this group, and today am going to suggest another...torture.
Now, I tend to take a practical view of things, and leave the moral posturing for the fundraisers and radio whiners among us. This is my main objection to torture, especially when practiced by our armed forces as part of the "War on Terror". I suspect that more often than not, the prisoners will say something to make the torture stop, and this is often not the truth, or useful information.
I am open to the possibility that sometimes a man will have useful information that we can "beat out of him". Maybe we should keep the water board handy, but use it as seldom as possible.
The cliche whatif that keeps getting used in torture discussions involves a nuclear device about to go off in a major city. You have a person in custody that knows the location, but is unwilling to share this information. Is it ok to torture this tightlipped individual?
Oh my, the hypothetical question. Once I was privy to a discussion between then Governor "Zig Zag" Zell Miller, and a reporter. The occasion was a rally for a certain Democratic Presidential hopeful during the Georgia primary in February 1992. The reporter was asking Governor Zigzag what would happen if the candidate...I think his name was Clinton...were to lose the upcoming Georgia Primary. After being assured by Governor Zigzag that this was not going to happen, the reporter persisted, and said, how about a hypothetical situation where the candidate (who had been introduced by Governor Zigzag at the rally) were to lose the primary. " Well that would be a hypothetical situation. A hypothetical situation is like, if my uncle was a woman then he would be my aunt"
Back to torture, and the ticking a bomb about to destroy Manhattan. (Do atom bombs tick? Wouldn't we be better off without Manhattan?) Now, if the terrorists found out that someone who knew the location of this device had been captured, they probably would change the location of the weapon. This is how warriors usually do things...when someone who knows the plan is captured, the plans change.
Also, this scenario is really about as likely as Former Governor Zigzag's Uncle...who is probably pushing 100 by this time...having gender reassignment surgery.
There are all sorts of other practical reasons not to use "extraordinary interrogation". The results would not be admissible in a US court of law. It makes the use of torture on captured American troops more probable. And then there are the moral considerations.
The simple truth is, when we use torture, we lower ourselves to the moral level of the terrorists. I know this line gets mighty blurry in time of war, and that we have done some really nasty things in most of the wars we have fought. Still, it is good to know that America stands for something other than invading Babylon to make sure American Companies pump the oil out.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Zig- zing, zip big
zag- sag, zap
Zell- sell, zeal, ell, fell, hell

Dearly Beloved

2007-10-28T13:03:00.000-04:00

thesoundofpigsfallingfromthesky
The shotgun wedding of Rigamorta Flappenheimer and Chicago Nicotino could not be put off any longer. The pregnancy was advancing day by day, and common decency demanded an immediate union. The fact that both the bride and groom were deceased did not lessen the urgency.
Serving wenches were recruited from the local peasants, and instructed in the customs of a corpse wedding.
Blue Face, and his partner Danger, graciously agreed to host. The hilltop house was decorated as though for a halloween party.
Batman let the Joker loose, and he was in attendance.
Satan sent a representative from Hades, or maybe it was Decatur. He spent most of the evening on the couch in the living room.
Several togas were seen. Apparently, the corpse bride is a tradition in some semi primitive societies.
Chicago Nicotino was very nervous. He spent most of the evening on the deck smoking cigarette after cigarette. Surely only the presence of a shotgun kept him from fleeing, and going back to the grave to avoid doing his duty to the fetching Rigamorta.
The evening went on, and much merriment was displayed. Somehow the union of Rigamorta and Chicago was forgotten, and the shotgun quietly put away. Or perhaps someone realized that a shotgun would have no effect on a corpse, except to make the clean up more difficult. Chicago was reported heading to a fetish party, while Rigamorta went back to the mausoleum.

corruption

2007-10-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

didimakeitthroughanotherweek
Did anyone else notice that Genarlow Wilson's attorney is named B.J. Bernstein?
First he goes to jail because of a BJ, then he gets out of jail because of a B.J.

When a forest is in a drought, it goes on. Maybe a few plants die, the trees don't grow as much, maybe it gets too dry and catches on fire, but that is nature.
When you replace that forest with a subdivision, you create a need for canned water. All those commodes, dishwashers, and landscaped yards use a lot more municipal water than a forest. Multiply this scenario by about a thousand and you have a water shortage waiting to happen.

I had another thought about Laura Ingraham, FreedomFromReligion, and abortion.
FFR posts about services which work with pregnant women to try to persuade them not to get an abortion.
Ms. Ingraham wants to use the government.
If a big government solution to the problem is liberal, then Ms. Ingraham is a LIberal.
Ditto for anyone who wants to send 160,000 troops eight time zones away...that person is a big government loving liberal.

Manifestation

2007-10-25T20:56:00.000-04:00

Your life is a manifestation of what you think of G-d
That was on a church signboard that I passed this morning. While these messages frequently spark a case of platitude fatigue, this one caught my eye. It had the ring of truth, about the people who value belief over performance. A vivid illustration was not long in coming.
On the Laura Ingraham show, there was a debate about Jesus Worship. The players were Dinesh D'Souza and Dan Barker. Mr. D'Souza is an author, who recently wrote a best selling pro Jesus Worship book . Mr. Barker is a radio whiner on Air America, and is affiliated with Freedom From Religion.com. After a civil opening exchange, the affair got nasty. Mr. D’Souza was interrupting his opponent, asking a lot of questions that had little relevance to what he was saying, and generally showing no respect or courtesy. This is consistent with my experience with Jesus Worshippers...that many are rude, love to argue, and show little respect for those with whom they disagree.
Your life is a manifestation of what you think of G-d
It gets better. Mr. D' Souza was grilling Mr. Barker on where he gets some of his ideas, and Ms. Ingraham jumped in with both feet. "Why do liberals always support abortion?" And she was off, and nothing was going to stop her from a grossout description of late term abortion. Never mind that Freedom From Religion lists counseling services that try to stop abortion. Never mind that Ms. Ingraham is an enthusiastic supporter of the killing in Babylon. If a pregnant woman in Babylon is killed by a cruise missile, does that count as abortion?
Your life is a manifestation of what you think of G-d

the last day of the games

2007-10-24T21:28:00.000-04:00

Afganistan stays in the news. A major source of opiates, Afganistan is one of the wildest places on earth. Guarding the historic trade routes between Europe and India, The Hindu Kush is home to some of the fiercest soldiers on the planet.
In 1979, the Soviet Union decided that it wanted a war with Afganistan. This conflict lasted ten years, and the Mighty Soviets lost. This was during the Cold War,and the United States wanted to do everything it could to hurt the Soviets, whom it considered an enemy. The Afgani forces fighting the Soviets recieved much aid from the United States, which was very helpful in its ultimate success.
The defeat in Afganistan was a factor in the dismantling of the Soviet Union that happened soon after. Soon, the rebel factions began to fight each other for the right to rule the country, using the weapons given them by the United States. Eventually the Taliban won, and set up shop.
On September 11, 2001, The United States was attacked. Credit for the attack was given to Al Queda, which was based in Afganistan. To avenge this attack, Afganistan was invaded by the United States. We are still there.

Now, this feature is not about the wisdom of attacking a fiece people, for the purposes of revenge. It is not about the future of our occupation there, or in neighboring Iraq. It is about the Olympics.
In 1996 Atlanta hosted the Olympics. On the last day of the games, the Men's Marathon was run.
The Marathon course went out Peachtree from downtown, and turned around near the end of the 23 Oglethorpe busline, in front of the funeral home. It then turned right, and went down Lanier Drive beside Oglethorpe University. It went down the street a couple of blocks, turned around in front of Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church( a former employer of mine), and came back to Peachtree. The runners turned right, went down to the Olympic Stadium south of downtown.
Now, being the slack person that I am, I had not gotten tickets to any Olympic events. The Marathon was a free event, and was walking distance from my residence. This was my last chance.
When I got there, I was amazed at the instant community that had assembled along the course. This remarkable event was almost over, and this was all I was going to see of it! The fact that it is more than many others saw was little comfort.
I walked alongside the course, and crossed Lanier Drive. This is important to the rest of the story.
The runners were a bit of an anticlimax. A pack of men in track uniforms, with the leaders in a bunch at the start. They ran past, went to the end of the course, down Lanier Drive, and hustled down Peachtree to the end of the race.
After the second appearance of the bulk of the runners, I was ready to go. However, there was a glitch. One runner was way behind the rest of the pack, and I could not cross Lanier Drive until he had gone by, and the course was opened for pedestrian traffic.
The last runner was from Afganistan.
After a few minutes, he appeared. He had a large bandage on one leg, which apparently had been injured.
He finished the race.
Now, I could not run 26 miles if I was 100 percent. The Afgan ran the marathon with an injured leg, albeit 20 minutes behind the rest of the pack.

The N word

2007-10-22T18:53:00.000-04:00

letitburndowntothegroundThe good thing about not having a big audience is the freedom to discuss touchy subjects. I can say more or less anything I want, and since very few are reading, there is no problem.
With that in mind, I approach the subject for today’s lesson...the "N- word". It doesn't get much touchier.
Now, we all know what that word is. It has six letters, rhymes with trigger, and makes the brains of some people turn into jello. It is a derogatory phrase for people of African origin, and is familiar to a white southern person like myself.
I try to avoid using this term. There are four main reasons for this. If I ever get paid for doing this I will come up with a top ten list.
1- The N word hurts people's feelings. I have known many fine Black people, and my life is much richer as a result. I do not want to say anything that will hurt these people. As for the not so fine Black People that I have known, they are G-d's children just like me. My fellow human beings no not deserve to be insulted just for who they are. The fact that this courtesy is often not returned is beside the point.
2- Being heard saying the N word can cause all sorts of problems. This can include physical retribution; loss of employment, lawsuits, and having to listen to enough loud angry words to make you wish you had never learned how to talk.
3- It is not a fair fight. There is no equivalent phrase for a Black Person to say to a white person. I do not wish to give that power to another group of people, to turn me into a mass of incoherent rage just for hearing a six letter word.
The closest thing to this is "Cracker", which I only recently found out was an insult. This is odd, because when I was a boy, we had a minor league baseball team called the Atlanta Crackers. There was even a team in the Negro League called the Black Crackers.
Maybe we could try redneck.
4- The use of the N word demeans the user. When you say an insulting word about another human being, you make yourself look bad.
When you hate someone, you hate yourself worse than the person you hate. And frankly, a lot of these people are not worth it.
Now, if the N word demeans a paleface like myself, what does it say about a black person who uses it?

APWBWGTTD

2007-10-17T19:20:00.001-04:00

AtlantaPeopleWithBlogsWhoGetTogethertoDrink
Is there a Guinness entry for longest non Russian word with only one vowel?
Leaving the job in Marietta at 530, I made it to the BBQ facility at about 630. The plan was to take the camera down to L5P until the event starts at 7.
I did make it down to a bar to use the restroom, and observed the trendiness around me.
After wandering around, and getting lots of images, I made my way down Josephine Street back to the BBQ joint. When I arrived, I saw a table with a sign..."APWBWGTTD b*****s". I knew it was the place.
After a few minutes, there were more arrivals, and a decision was made to put two tables together. Now, round tables do not add together smoothly. The first table that was brought over had a top coming loose from the base, with a lit candle on top. Soon another round table was brought out, and the thing resembled Mickey Mouse .
The server informed us that the Mac and Cheese was "tainted". This was a great disappointment to some of the pixel people. She did bring out a bowl later, which was passed around to allow those who wanted a sample. There are no reports of fatalities.
The folks I met were nice, and well behaved. There was a consensus that a different spot every month was better than Manual’s Tavern. It is also easier to attend events when someone tells you about it.

urthechurchnevermindthechch
A few days ago at Pyrowhoopee....a jesus worship blog I am banned from...they had a picture of an Ad from the Universalist Unitarian Church. The headline of the ad read " Does G-d Keep You from Coming to Church". The pyro gaggle made fun of it, and moved on to the next subject.
This did get me to thinking. The obvious comeback was " Does Church Keep you from coming to G-d". Or, more to the point, does Jesus keep you from knowing G-d?
There is a time and a place for theological discussion, hopefully with an adult show of manners, listening, and courtesy. (That might be asking for too much) The subject of this lunch hour rantette is Platitude Fatigue.
Does anyone else get tired of the cleverness of others? Especially some well compensated copywriter in a New York office. We are bombarded with thousands of messages a day, whether we are interested or not. Just because the thought was cleverly worded does not make it more appealing.
Also, there is the idea that you trivialize religion with this sort of flackery.
Of course, if you think G-d is something external, that you need to come to...that she is not already in your heart, regardless of what the bible thumpers say...then maybe.... something. I don't have words suitable for all occasions, except "These things too shall pass away". Just keep that Persian king from getting the bomb.
Spell check suggestions:
b*****s- B.Arch's, babbles, babes, babies, baboons, bloggers
Manuels- Manuals, manilas, mantels, mangles, mantles
Universalist- Universalistic, Universals, Universalize
pyro- pry, pro, pyre, pier, Pierre
flackery- flicker

Into the Wild

2007-10-16T22:18:00.001-04:00

Ineverforgetafaceandifiseeuyouagain
Before I get started on the dispatch for today, there is a small matter.
I tuned in the Rush Limbaugh show today, and the first thing I heard him say…”If I was a black voter”

Before last night, I could not remember the last time I had paid full ticket price to see a movie. Last nights adventure cost $8.50, or enough to buy a shoebox full of yard sale videos. Of course, I would not have the bonding experience, nor had someone hear me groan when I saw William Hurt’s name in the opening credits.
I saw Herr Hurt in this same theatre a few years ago, in some travesty about being an Accidental Tourist. A couple of weeks later, the late Lewis Grizzard wrote about this alleged movie, and said that Mr. Hurt had the charisma of a slice of Velveeta cheese. You know that something is up when I agree with Lewis Grizzard. Of course, the character Mr. Hurt played here had the charisma of a slice of velveeta cheese. He was also an evil poopyhead whoruined his son's life.
The movie in question is “Into The Wild”. I had heard about it the day before, and the men I was with agreed to meet the next evening and see the thing. I was under the impression that it was a small budget film, until I saw that it was directed by Sean Penn, formerly known as Mr. Madonna.
The film was about Alexander Supertramp, who destroyed his identity after graduating from Emory and disappeared into the American West. He had some excellent adventures, before he went to Alaska,killed a moose, ate some poisonous weeds, and died. There was a lot of philosophical talk about freedom, which somehow seemed to miss the point.
When I was 26, I took a greyhound bus to points west, and wound up in a hostel in Seattle. I worked through various temp agencies and day labor things, and somehow managed to keep myself fed. One day, I was outside this grungy building on the Alaska Highway waiting for someone to come by with work, and I had a Supertramp-like insight. Yes, I was free here, free to starve if I didn’t get busy and find a job. Before long, this car came by and asked me if I wanted to work. The driver asked if I had been drinking, and I noticed he had on a priest’s collar. I went to a house overlooking Lake Washington and dug up some weeds for this lady who told be to go all the way to the roowuts.
Back to Alexander Supertramp, which was quite a story, if a bit depressing. He met some neat people, and some not so neat, like the railroad “bull” who beat him up. He was a bit on the glib side, and generally had a bad case of being 22 years old. The problem is that he took his youthful folly a bit too far, and did not make it to 25.
This was all gloriously photographed and soundtracked, and showed what a neat place the American west is. He was in and out of tight spots for much of the movie, just like the last yardsale video I saw, “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”.
At one point I felt a connection to his wonderful words. He was talking to a benefactor, played (unconvincingly) by Hal Holbrook. He climbed up a hill, and shouted for the old man to follow him up. Alex said that life is what happens when you step outside your shell and do something you are not used to doing. (He was a lot more poetic than that, but that is the general idea) Mark Twain followed him up the hill, and agreed that it was a splendid view.
Now, this could have been a typical Monday night. Go home, eat leftovers, take a walk, play with the computer, and go to bed. The Falcons were playing on Monday Night Football, and I WAS SO GLAD I MISSED SEEING THAT. Instead of the typical night, I drove directly into town from Mayretta, and saw a movie with a group of friends. I don’t know if that is real life, but it was a pleasant change. And I didn’t have to kill a moose.

Social Disease

2007-10-13T10:55:00.000-04:00

justgetitdonesoyoucangototheyardsales
10/13/2007 9:51:12 AM
Why do people hate on Friday the thirteenth so much, when Saturday the thirteenth is just as evil?
Waking up with no where to go, I decided to update the blogroll. This is a long overdue chore...long overdue, and requires no creative juices, just the ability to highlight, copy, highlight, paste, backspace, and on to the next.
The background for this exercise is "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Sir Elton. The love is still bleeding in his hands. Bless his heart.
9:59:28 AM "Bennie and the Jets" If only Elton had continued down that road.
The blogosphere is not fair. Some can talk about a tummy ache and get a hundred comments. I am doing good to get one a month.
Still, I decide to give Recovering Baptist a spot on the roll, because he left a comment here. I was raised in that nasty cult, and remain scarred by it.
10:08:53 AM "Cried for the darkness to come down on me"
It is time for the ...work... of the blogroll. ( And I struggle so to keep profanity out of this blog)
The first step is to dump the obsolete entries. America Blog, Anti War, and the Blue Heron nature preserve don't make the cut. I consider dumping Church of the Subgenius, but I am too slack to do so. Digital Blasphemy and the Hillbilly Atheist go bye bye, but the Farsi laden home of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remains, as does Overheard in New York.
No I am not going to splice links in this thing. That is what the blogroll is for.
While Elton talks about Jamaica, I find a section of Jesus Worship blogs. Purgatorio is regrettably shut down, do it gets the boot. Even though I am banned from commenting at PyroPooPoo, I am going to be forgiving and list it. I will even list Pyromite Centuri0n, who at least occasionally answers my emails.
10:19:35 AM I have seen this movie too. I even have the soundtrack cd.
I am including the site for my cousins B&B in Wilmington, and another cousin's antiwar site. I hope the servers can handle the traffic. To make room, Wonkette and Undo Jesus are going to be ex'd. What would Jesus Undo?
There is no chore that cannot be made more complicated by writing about it.
10:33:26 AM "tell the world, you're a dirty little girl"

Ladies in PInk

2007-10-12T19:27:00.001-04:00

thelaaaadyinpinkdancingcheektocheek
Driving from Alpharetta to Norcross, I saw the traffic backing up and a sidewalk full of women wearing pink.
It was another charity walk, this time for breast cancer.
There are some mixed feelings here. I didn't enjoy waiting in traffic, and the policemen escorting the walkers could be doing other things.
There is also a bit of cynicism about the whole idea of charity walks. It seems like the organizations would get more money if the walkers just raised donations without the gimmick to justify it. The expenses of such an affair take up a good bit of the take, as AIDS walkers found a few years ago.
But, moving on to the good side, many many events are justified by fundraising. Yes the expenses eat up a good bit of what the goodworks could be getting, but rich people need to party.
We can also consider the good side of this. The women (and a few men) who were walking shared a powerful experience. The event does raise consciousness about a dreadful disease.
I used to not take breast cancer seriously. That was before a friend of mine found a lump on her breast, and was buried about a year later. When that lump spreads into the rest of the body, you have problems.
Besides, pink is a great color.

Leaf Blowers

2007-10-10T21:02:00.001-04:00

wishtheyhadneverbeeninvented
I never have liked leaf blowers.
The whole thing strikes me as an inappropriate use of technology. Just because we can do something, that does not mean that we have to.
The noise caused by a rake slapping the driveway is annoying, but it is not nearly as loud as those infernal blowers are.
Many a sunday afternoon nap has been ruined by leaf blowers. And, it contributes to our problem with illegal immigration.
The one time I did see a leaf blower appropriately used was a few years ago. I was riding my bike in the parking lot of Plaza Fiesta, when the Mexican Circus was in town. A man was using a leaf blower to clean an elephant.
What happened today was the icing on the cake, the scum on the sewage, or the last straw. I left the windows open on a truck in back of the building today. Somebody decided to blow the pinestraw into neat piles on the side of the parking lot, and proceeded to deposit this material in the cab of my truck.
Controlling pine straw at this time of year is a losing battle. When you rake/blow the straw off a surface, the trees will go into the endless supply, and cover your driveway with another layer. Think of Laurel and Hardy delivering a piano.
At least with a rake you get some quiet exercise.

Monday at the Dealer

2007-10-08T19:23:00.000-04:00

yesicandobetterbutiamslack
There was nothing going on this morning, so I took the truck to the dealer for some scheduled maintenance. I got the magazine out of my bag (not my bad) first. This is essential at this dealer, where the only reading material is a freebie sports magazine.
I got there at 8:50. There was a black lady ahead of me, describing the condition of her SUV. I got the attention of the service guy, and told him whom I was with. I wanted an oil change, and whatever else was needed.
I go in the waiting room, and the first thing I notice is a TV playing ESPN. It was rather loud. I thought for a while of hanging out at an empty desk in the showroom, but there was golden oldies muzak there, and I decided to take my chances with Joe Torre, and his job hanging in the balance.
He should know better by now. Baseball managers are hired to be fired, especially those working for George Steinbrenner. Still, I like Joe Torre. To me he is still the raccoon eyed catcher who moved with the Braves from Milwaukee, and I can forgive him what happened in ’96 and ’99.
There is a copy of USA today, and I peruse the NFL scores. The Falcons are reverting back to their normal selves, and all of Rankin Blanks money won’t make any difference.
I also note that Indianapolis has gone 5-0. I am reminded of this by ESPN, which says that only three teams have gone 5-0 three years in a row. One of these teams was the 1930s Green Bay Packers, and this announcer has the same rise in his voice every time he talks about this. Something tells me this drivel was pre recorded.
Moving right along…..
I open my Atlantic Magazine fiction issue to a story. It is about a Catholic Priest who gets in financial trouble because he buys things his parishioners cannot afford. He gets out of debt by writing speeches for a right wing seminary buddy. At the end he has a conscience attack and resigns his job as a speechwriter, and drinks beer on the roof of a hospital with a terminally ill parish handyman. The final line of the story…”It’s a lucky man who can drink with his priest”.
It just might be the stupidest short story I have ever read.
Meanwhile, ESPN dude spreads the happy news that Denver suffered its worst home defeat since 1966. This is good news.
A few minutes later, the idiot box was squalling about Jeff Gordon. The black lady and I exchange a knowing look.
The service guy came in at some point, and told me of other procedures to be performed. Instead of 45 minutes, we were up to 90.
ESPN sports news apparently repeats itself. By this time, the Joe Torre saga was on its second round.
During the Braves lame duck season in Milwaukee, the team came down to Atlanta to play exhibitions at Atlanta Stadium. After one of these games, I got Dad to take me where I could get autographs. At the time, they let fans hang out outside the clubhouse and meet the players as they came out. This was changed rather quickly.
Henry Aaron stood patiently, smoking a cigarette and signing all the autographs on a cardboard box. Rico Carty came out and greeted the fans.
There was a panel truck parked beside the clubhouse. Joe Torre came out, took a look at the crowd, slipped behind the truck and ran.
By this time, a man with a laptop had joined us in the waiting room. When I finished the story about the priest, I said out loud “ this is the stu”, and saw laptop guy looking at me. I did not finish the sentence.
The Atlantic fiction issue had an article about an author whose appearance at Clemson University sparked a controversy. There was mention of a talk before a group of honors students, and I was reminded that Miss Teen Age South Carolina was an honor student.
By this time, I was looking behind me at the service area, and looking at the time line on my cell phone. Finally, at 11:02, I saw the truck . It was time to go. The lack of ESPN noise was appreciated.

Barack Obama and the Flag Pin

2007-10-06T21:14:00.001-04:00

iwearaflagundermyfiremanuniform
Barack Obama keeps saying things that appeal to me, and keeps falling further and further behind. This is the latest, courtesy of a local news service.
Iowa City - Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is trying to change political fashion. He gave a speech in Iowa City Wednesday and he wasn't wearing an American flag pin.
Those pins have become synonymous with politicians since 9-11.
Obama says he doesn't like how the pin has come to represent patriotism in America.
The senator told TV-9, "I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest, instead I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great. Hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."
The candidate, owner of the most prominent ears since Lyndon Johnson, is not doing well in the polls. Hillary is kicking his mixed race butt.
Jesse Jackson accuses him of acting white.
It’s really a shame. Mr. O was opposed to the war in Babylon while the others were posturing over wmds'. He is a good speaker, and is younger than yours truly.
Part of the problem could be the shade of his exterior. He is expected to say things that appeal to black voters.(Hence the comment from Mr. Jackson) The only problem is that what appeals to African Americans frequently scares Whitefolk. He is in a tough spot.
The irony is, his mother was white, his father is from Kenya, and he was born in Hawaii. He is not the descendant of slaves.
This latest flap is one more thing that I like. I get tired of the flag used as jewelry, and exploited for commercial and political gain. A while back, a real estate lady in my area put a flag in everyone’s front yard, with her business card attached. I wonder how many of those flags wound up in a landfill, which is not a place of respect.
A co worker once had a sticker on her van, "try burning this one". After leaving the van in direct sunlight for a while, the pink, lavender, and beige were still there.
I have one flag on display. It is in my tool shed. I found it in a box of garbage once, while I was riding my bike. I rescued it.
But I don't use the flag as an item of jewelry. I applaud Mr. Obama for his not doing so.

Tuesday Matters

2007-10-02T21:37:00.000-04:00

didhereallysaythat
It has been a good day for one liners.
It started early. Some gasbag in the Senate was discussing Rush Limbaugh's recent comments about "phony soldiers". The Senator said " He must have been high on some of his drugs".
Later, Mr. Rush said that the Senator "desecrated the floor of the Senate" with his remarks
I interrupted listening to his show to go in a building. When I came out, a tall, well built woman was standing on the sidewalk. She was wearing high heels and a nice green dress, and talking on a cell phone. "The difference between me and the other girls is that I don't charge as much"

translations

2007-10-01T19:01:00.000-04:00

doyouknowwhatimean
Much has been made about recent statements by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad'. He was quoted as saying, among other things, that there were no gays in Iran. This might come as a surprise to those teenagers who were hung a couple of years ago.
Of course, that assumes that Mr. Alphabet really said that. All we really know is what the translator of his remarks said.
Translation is an inexact science in the best of times. Certainly when changing a tongue like Farsi and rendering in into English, there are going to be mistakes. And since few in this country know Farsi, we have to trust the translator.
There is another angle to this, the translator with an agenda. This is suspected in some of Mr. Ahmadinejad's earlier comments about Israel. There are several alternative translations of his remarks, where "wipe Israel off the map" is interpreted as "find the Zionist state to be a nasty place". (This is not an exact quote.) Perhaps someone who wanted to stir hatred of Iran was behind that translation...like, perhaps a person from Iran's enemy, Iraq.
You have to take all this talk about hatred between Israel and Iran with a grain of salt. After all, Israel was the middleman in the arms dealing scheme with the United States known as Iran Contra.
There is some academic chatter coming out of Columbia University that might back up what the translator said. In some dusty academic wordfest, this was found..."The author doesn't deny that same-sex sexual contact exists in Arab countries, but claims that the category of "homosexual" is purely a Western one exported to the Arab world by Western cultural imperialists. This may have been what Mr. Ahmadinejad meant...that men have had sex with men for thousands of years, but they do not think of themselves as homosexual. This would be consistent with what thousands of travelers to Arab lands report.
These visits to the U.N. seem to be an annual thing for Mr. Ahmadinejad. Maybe next year he can go to New York a couple of weeks early, and take in fashion week.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
Mahmoud- mahout, manhood, hammond,
Ahmadinejad- no spelling suggestions

Gratitudes

2007-09-28T19:22:00.001-04:00

peopledontreallydothosethingsdothey?
There is something called the "meme" in the blogosphere. As best I understand the concept, it is a question about yourself that you send out chain letter style into the void. Like paradigm, a word that people toss about freely ,and I never have quite understood.
At any rate, Mingaling has a list of 150 things that you can do. The idea is to read the list, and indicate which of these things you have done.
My life has been my life. (Like Popeye and the sweet potato, I yam what I yam). There are things I have done, things I have not done, and there are regrets and gratitudes on both sides. Anyone who gets to be 53 years old and says they have no regrets is a liar. I have told lies.
Next year will be something, btw. I was born in 1954, and I will be 54 years old. That and five dollars will get you a cup of coffee.
I had a friend once named Crazy Owl. (He is still my friend, even if I haven't seen him in twelve years). He lived in a tract of land on Flat Shoals road near the new Wal Mart. There are lots of houses there now, but twelve years ago he had his "monastery" there.
On certain Friday nights, he would have a sweat lodge. Like a crude outdoor sauna, you would build a fire, heat the rocks, and put them in the lodge, go inside and perspire. It is a Native American thing, and I have heard that they still have them in Candler Park.
So one friday, the people in the lodge made comments about what they were grateful for.
The previous friday, I had been in a bar in Tucker, GA. The hostess of the happy hour party had made xerox copies of a coupon for cheap food. The room next to the dining room had a band, and a room full of drunks, each and every one of whom was chain smoking. The band played " Is that all there is?" I ordered a cup of coffee, and was charged $2.75 for something I would not wash a dog in.
So, when we were expressing our gratitudes at the sweat lodge, I said " Last friday night I was in an unbelievably cheesy bar in Tucker Georgia. Tonight I am here. I am grateful for having variety in my life.
The song "Is that all there is" is about life experiences, and the disappointment they sometimes bring. If I ever send this meme out, item 151 will be hearing "Is that all there is" as performed by Sandra Bernhardt.
Peggy Lee, who passed away a few years ago, made the song famous. Ms. Lee had a stroke and years of bad health, and was by all accounts a vegetable when she moved on. It is highly unlikely that she said "Is that all there is?" on her deathbed

Eeneymememineemoocatcha
Item 152 on this annotated meme would be staying at the Hostel in Brunswick. I stayed in a treehouse there, on the night before a trip to Cumberland Island. They had a circle before dinner, where all the visitors hold hands and say what they were grateful for. My comment was
I am grateful for all the people at this meeting who keep there comments down to a short sentence or two. The inability to shut up before dinner is a serious character flaw.
This meme is good, and may supply fodder for more than one post. Since lunch hour is almost over I will settle for number 23 (23 skidoo), Gotten Drunk on Champagne.
On night when I was in Seattle, I went to a bar called WREX. They were giving away bottles of Andre’ Champagne, and I tried to insure that none were left over.
The next day I felt worse than horrible. A champagne hangover is used by the Southern Baptist Convention to convince folks not to ever drink again. Ever.
After a while, I pushed the cotton candy in my head to one side, and started to walk down Pike Street to the market. I crossed a street, oblivious to the red light in the yellow box. I also didn't notice the two policemen waiting for me, one of whom wrote a citation for Jaywalking.
A couple of weeks later I went to Pedestrian Safety School. That could be item 153.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
meme- memo, mere, mete, melee
mingaling- mingling
wal- awl, wall, walla, al, wale, wail, walk, walt, whale, wad, wag, wan, war, wax, way
friday- freddie, frilly, frizzy, fridge, verify, verily, verity

Is Life Sacred?

2007-09-26T21:14:00.000-04:00

raperavageplunderdestroy
If you were to go to most people and ask " Is life sacred?”, I dare say the majority would answer yes. It is when you get into the details that the contradictions arise.
A few years ago there was a group called the Seamless Garment. Their position was that life was sacred, and the only one with any business ending a human life was G-d. The motto was: ”All of life from conception until natural death is a seamless garment.”
They have since changed their name to Consistent Life. Their mission statement is: “We are committed to the protection of life, which is threatened in today's world by war, abortion, poverty, racism, capital punishment and euthanasia. We believe that these issues are linked under a 'consistent ethic of life'. We challenge those working on all or some of these issues to maintain a cooperative spirit of peace, reconciliation, and respect in protecting the unprotected."
A few thoughts come to mind.
The Bible is little help here. While it says, "Thou shalt not kill" on one page, it condones taking "an eye for an eye" on another. Ultimately the Bible is only as good as the person reading it.
The statement that “all life is sacred” is a hypocrite’s playground. I have never met a person who is against all forms of life taking. Many of those who condemn abortion in the strongest "life is sacred" voice are ardent supporters of wars and capital punishment. (I bet more than a few have had abortions).
When I first heard about Seamless Garment, the big four issues were abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and war. Somewhere or another, poverty and racism were added to the shopping list. To me, this is a mistake. While poverty and racism certainly contribute to early deaths, they are not the instant killers that abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia and war are.
There are some other issues which possibly could be included. This would include murder, suicide, substance abuse, inappropriate medicine, environmental degradation, and unsafe driving. This is not a complete list, and has the potential for going so far as to include most human activities.
Since this is my blog, I feel obligated to share my opinions on the big four. This is going to be the rest of the post. If you skip ahead to the pictures my feelings will not be hurt.
Abortion and War are similar issues. Both are horrible, ghastly events. I have never participated in either, except as a sponsoring taxpayer. In the case of War, there are side effects to a society that wages war, no matter how just. It takes resources away from better uses, is damaging to the economy (except for a handful of profiteers), and is generally bad karma. The same can be said about abortion.
However, I stop short of saying we should never do either. Sometimes War is needed. (Often though, by the time a decision has been made to fight a war, the country has been railroaded into this action.) Sometimes Abortion is an appropriate measure. We need to keep the option open.
Capital Punishment is pretty muddy also. There are some cases where it is appropriate. It is not always used in these cases, and is used at other times when it should not be.
Capital Punishment is strong stuff. It is "Playing G-d". I simply don't think our justice system is fair or wise enough to use this strong medicine in a beneficial manner. We would be better off as a society without it.
Euthanasia is even fuzzier. As medicine advances, we are going to see more people who are technically alive, but unable to "live". Should we off them, or should we leave that to G-d? Could the resources used to keep them "alive" be used more profitably on a person with a chance of a full recovery? Should lawyers and insurance companies make by the family or this decision? On this one, I can say without question that I don't know.
As for Poverty and Racism, I am opposed to both, of course.

294 Mandala Pie

2007-09-25T20:22:00.001-04:00

six oclock news

2007-09-20T21:39:00.000-04:00

GoreVidalwasrightaboutthisguy
It started out as a beautiful late summer day, but by 5:45 I was over it. This is normal, and being tired from a job is better than well rested unemployment. Still, I was ready to be home.
The traffic backed up at a key part of my ride, and I took another route the rest of the way. All in all, not the best mood, but not the worst either.
Getting home from work is the worst time of day for confrontations. I am tired, hungry, and more than a little bit crazy. I get in the house, leave the lunch dishes in the kitchen, go turn on the computer, and come back to fix a sandwich.
My brother is watching the news in the room next to the kitchen. As I pull two slices of bread out of the sack, the report on the idiot box has a familiar turn. Something about the church where he was once an alter boy. But today, it was the scene of a tribute to his too short life.
It gets worse. I don't remember the exact words, but it was a report from a soldier's funeral in Carroll County. And it got worse and worse.
Finally, I snap. I hope you are enjoying that poison. Another brave man has died in that useless war
There is plenty of anger to go around.
My brother is watching the noise while I am fixing dinner.
The TV station is exploiting the grief of the soldier's family to sell advertising.
But most of all, I am boiling mad at THAT STINKING COCAINE ADDICT IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Pizza of Mind

2007-09-19T21:11:00.000-04:00

pleasegetacleanplate
I realized something once, and it brought me a great deal of peace of mind.
Or, maybe that is pizza of mind. My thought is a full buffet, with salad, soup, dessert, and mexican soap operas on the wide screen TV. ( There is a place like this in Norcross).
The thought is …
I don't have to have an opinion about everything.
Back to the Pizza of Mind buffet
There are two issues on the media serving line today, and neither one is to my taste. Maybe some hot sauce would help.
The first is taser boi in Flaraduh. I can't decide whether or not it was ok for the cops to taze him.
I did find a link to his website,The Andrew Meyer.com. It is tons of fun. I may even order a pimp light from him.
“Don't Taze Me Bro” would make a good t shirt. A quick trip to google confirms this.
Don't Taze Me Bro Tshirts
Make a statement in style!
ARTISTIC AND SUPER RAD

The other issue is the jena 6. I heard about it a couple of weeks ago, and while it sounded horrible, I kept wondering what the other side had to say.
Now Jesse Jackson is mouthing off, and Neal Boortz is expressing himself. Choosing between agreeing with one or the other of that pair is not a pleasant thought.
Since I am not likely to be on a jury in this case, I will be neutral. That is the selection between reverse and drive-low.
I have been mentioning religion in every post so far this week. This is another subject where it is acceptable to have no opinion.

As W.C. Fields said “ A man has to believe in something. I believe I will have a drink”

I drank my last beer December 31, 1988.

Spell check suggestions for this feature:
taze- tax, take, tale, tame, tape, tare
bro- bo, ro, bra, brow, brood, brook, broom
taser- taster, tassel, taker, tamer, taper, tares, teaser, laser, maser

The F list

2007-09-18T20:21:00.000-04:00

ifyoudonteatyourbeathowcanyoupudany
It seems as though the Maliki government in Iraq is showing a bit of independence from its Yankee benefactors.
They have "revoked the license" of a firm called Blackwater. Didn't the Doobie Brothers have a song about them once?
Now, the use of private security firms/mercenaries in Iraq is rather controversial on a number of levels. There is the matter of these forces being more expensive to operate than "government" military. There is the widely held belief that they are above the law, and can do all sorts of nasty stuff that the "standard" military cannot do. (This is a semantic quandary here. What do you call traditional, government based military to distinguish it from mercenaries?) The people in Iraq don't seem to care for them, but they don't count.
There is an emotional tie to our troops here, and supporting the troops is seen as being a good thing. Does this extend to well paid contractors?
The whole thing raises some interesting issues. Does the Iraqi government have the right to tell its occupiers how to run their country? Will this prove the Maliki government to be mere puppets, as many have suspected? And if they succeed in kicking out blackwater...an unlikely prospect, but let’s say they do...can they get us to leave merely by asking?

nolipsnccinghereeither
One thing about Kathy Griffin at the Emmy awards, she did not kill any civilians, terrorists, or Jesus.
She did make a tasteless remark about Mary's problem child. Before she made the comment ( which rhymes with Bucket, and is not a city in Thailand), there was this gem, which qualifies for inclusion in this clean language blog..."A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."
The catholic league was not pleased. On the page linked here, there is a link to a page about Pope Pius xii. You remember him, he was Pope during World War II. Hitler wondered how many divisions he had.
But back to Kathy Griffin. While her comment that "This award is my G-d now" is a bit of tmi, the rest of her comments were much less offensive. Those who would drag the name of Jesus into a tacky awards show are the blasphemers.
Many of us could not care less what Jeeziepoo had to do with someone getting an award.
Jesus offends many of us, and we came by this opinion honestly. And yet, with all the bumper stickers, t shirts, chrome fish, and award show speeches, we have Jboi shoved in the face constantly.
There is also the matter of the third commandment, but my lunch hour is almost over.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
malliki- malice
blackwater-backwater
doobie-doughboy
emmy- emma, em, emmett, amy, omni
Pius- pus, pious, pies, pigs, pins, pips, pits
Jboi- job, boi

The First Seventeen

2007-09-17T21:15:00.000-04:00

Pleasesignatanywhereontheservicedelivery
While casting about for words to put between the pictures, I remembered this email I sent a couple of years ago.
Religion and autobiography are a dangerous mix, but no one is forcing you to read this.
Hey
I suppose I have been remiss in answering your last letter.
I was a Southern Baptist all my life. Arguably, I became a Baptist when my mother converted in 1938, but really didn’t get with the program until I was born in 1954.
First Baptist in Atlanta was a big church on Peachtree Street about a mile north of downtown. (A few years ago, they sold the land to a developer and moved to the suburbs. I was working a block away when they tore down the building, and got some chips of brick as a souvenir.) I sang in the "cherub" choir, which was quite an experience when we performed in front of a full house. I have good memories of Sunday school, vacation bible school, and the choir program.
One thing I did not like, even at that young age, was the preacher. He was a greasy haired man who shouted a lot and had a mean streak. (Sounds like some of these bloggers). Years later, I heard rumors (from more than one source) that he was gay.
There is one thing I will always remember. We were watching him preach. He shouted, "this is the word of G-d", waved a bible in the air, and slammed it into the pulpit. I thought, if that is the word of G-d, maybe he shouldn’t slam it down like that, but should be nicer to it.
Around 1962, mom and dad decided to move to a church a bit closer . I liked Briarcliff Baptist. About this time, I first heard about being "saved from sin" and thought it was a pretty cool idea.
I also was in cub scouts, and since their meetings were the same day as choir practice, I quit the choir.
I attended church regularly the next few years, but never did join the church and get baptized. There are some other family issues that came up about this time, which is way too personal to get into here, but affected my attitude towards the church.
The Baptist custom of pressuring pre adolescents into “making a profession of faith” and being baptized is a gruesome form of child abuse. It is the emotional equal to what “some” Catholic priests like to do with pre adolescent boys.
After a while I was 17 years old, and working in a restaurant that was open until 1am on Saturday night. I decided one Sunday that I didn’t want to get up for church. I have only been back to that building once in the intervening 36 years. (I was a delivery driver for a blueprint company, and I delivered a copy of the plans for a new sanctuary)

Spell check suggestions for this feature:
atlanta- alternate, alter net, atlantic, atlantis
haired- hairdo, hared, hayride, hailed, highroad, harried, hatred

While posting this feature, I cut the TV on to watch a bit of Monday Night Football.
MNF is no longer available for free, but is on ESPN/pay tv. It is the end of civilization as we know it.

Pinko Rino

2007-09-13T22:16:00.000-04:00

whatatangledwebweweave

The following is a comment I made at The Shaqawa.
He posted a feature about the demise of Abu Risha. He is the Sunni leader who was a part of the turnaround in Anbar province. This is where the Iraqi Sunnis have joined forces with the Amerikan troops to fight the Saudi fighters. It seems like the Saudis got a bit too aggressive in their treatment of the natives, which provoked a reaction.
Before I get to my commentary, I should pass along one tidbit that I read somewhere. It is late, and I cannot find the source, although if I can I will update this with a link. The story goes, Anbar province is not that big a deal, at least not compared to the oil rich south part of Iraq, and the Persian Gulf ports that are used to ship this oil. These regions were conquered by the British troops, who are now leaving. The Brits are being replaced by much fighting among the different varieties of Shiites. Many of these Shiites...indeed, probably most...have close ties to Iran. It makes you wonder why we are making such an effort to "secure" Anbar province, which does not have much oil.
Maybe this war really isn't about oil after all. The fact that Iraq has the second largest supply of oil in the world is a coincidence.

didbritneylookfatatthevmaawards

When I opened a wordpad to write this, I copied over a post at my blog called "war pigs".
I like to do this when commenting at a blogspot site. It is very frustrating to write a long comment and have it disappear when blogger has a hissy fit.
Now, to the subject of this comment.
"BG" said :
"i wish to personally thank the Democratic leadership, of which could not hold a candle to Sheihk Sattar, for EMBOLDENING THE ENEMY & PROLONGING THIS WAR VIA THEIR DECLARATIONS OF FAILURE!! #$%& YOU & YOUR COWARDLY ILK & MAY YOU REAP WHAT YOU HAVE SEWN 10 FOLD, SAME GOES FOR THE PINKO RINO'S, AMEN!!"
There is plenty of blame to go around for the American disaster in Babylon. The Democrats were all too willing to believe the nonsence that W and his buddies were spouting, and voting to approve this self destructive fiasco.
However, to say that Democrats are "prolonging the war and emboldening the enemy" is rubbish.
There are many indications that our government has no intention of leaving. The building of enormous bases is one sign that this is intended to be a permanent occupation.
And who is the enemy? I hear a lot of talk about destroying Al Queda , before they attack Amerika again. Of course, this is Al Queda Mesopotania, which is different from the branch of Al Queda in Pakistan. The Pakistani crowd is the one pulling off 911.
Also, I dare say there is no shortage of Amerika haters around the world who are willing to replace the ones we kill in Iraq. Among these may be family members of women and children killed as "collateral damage" in this ongoing tragedy.
And , isn't Al Queda largely a Saudi organization? Whenever you buy gasoline refined from Saudi Oil, you are aiding Al Queda.
Yea, the talk of the Democrats may be emboldening some members of Al Queda. But I dare say they would still be fighting if the Democrats were not asking tough questions about the war.
I may recycle this at my blog. If I do I will cut out the bad language used, as my blog is for general audiences. It is fine and dandy to talk about killing women and children, but don't use words about body functions while you are doing so.
Shaqawa, thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment.

Since I made my original comment, BG has replied.
He posted a fire breathing quote. He also had a link, with the words "Answer here , check the dates" When I went to that site, I found a scary picture of Hillary Clinton, with a different quote from the one in the comment. The quote in the linked page was made September 13, 2001. BG added the sage comment "nuff said about W's nonsense"
It is getting late, and the alarm clock takes no prisoners at 6am. I may or may not deal with this later.
I will say that the thought of Slick Willie as First Philanderer is truly awful.
As for BG, he made another comment. "chamblee54 said...let me put this nicely as possible..you don't know your b*** from your elbow..
seriously, get educated.."

War Pigs

2007-09-12T19:27:00.000-04:00

iamjustasoldierdoingmyjob
A little while ago, I was coming back from Kennesaw when the perfect song came on the radio . The song was “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath.
Now, when I was younger and should have been enjoying BS, I was into a “rock snob” thing and looked down at them. As a result, I missed the seminal concert at the Municipal Auditorium where Ozzy got a tummyache and the band quit playing after 25 minutes.
But enough faux nostalgia. It is the day after the 911 anniversary, and General Petraeus is giving his much awaited report to the parliament of theives. And the radio whiners are in a dither because some folks were not nice to the man.
To begin with, “betray us” is such an obvious joke. While moveon.org is hardly known for its wit, they could have done better than that. And no, I haven’t actually seen the ad, but I heard about it.
But back to General P. I suppose I have respect for him, and agree with much of what he says. But I don’t think the critics are off base by making fun of him. The commander of a six digit army is a dream job for a military man. I am sure than General P is a master politician, and had many allies...and victims... in his rise to the top of the heap. War is hell…kill or be killed. So why should we give a free pass to the boss soldier coming to congress to give a progress report?(Which is not coming to progress to give a congress report).

six years later

2007-09-11T19:36:00.001-04:00

christmascomesbutonceeachyear
It is 9-11 once again.
This is a non election year...or rather, a year without voting in November (the presidential circus is going full throttle). This means that politicians and their camp followers do not see the need to make noise about this anniversary, unlike last year.
Now, the radio whiners were in full throat today. I heard one say, over the soft tones of "Amazing Grace", that the terrorists were trying to take G-d out of public life in America. This is odd, considering that the 911 nineteen were motivated by service to G-d.
Maybe this is one thing we can get out of this...the knowledge than Man really doesn't know much about G-d, and what we do know is not worth fighting over.
There was a lot of noise six years ago to the effect that 911 changed everything. Today, I really don't see that. My life is very much the same, at least on the surface.
The big difference is a self destructive war America is stuck with. Our leadership gained a great deal of good will and power in the wake of the attacks. This mojo was wasted in a ruinous war in Babylon. This, a big increase in the national debt, the erosion of many of our freedoms...this is the legacy of 911.
The attacks were very beneficial to our leadership. They had only been in office a few months, and had been elected under highly shaky circumstances. While I don't think they were smart enough to pull off 911 as an "inside job", I cannot rule out the possibility that the plot was known about, and allowed to take place.

overtheriverandthroughthewoods
Last year, lots of bloggers told their 911 stories. Through the miracle of memory/copy/paste, here is mine.

Most of my fellow bloggers are telling their 911 stories. Mine is not that dramatic. I was at work, and someone called out that someone had run a plane into the World Trade Center. I didn’t think much of it, until I heard that the second tower had been hit, then the pentagon, then the towers collapsed, then a plane crashed in Pennsylvania.
I focused on my job most of the day. There was always a lot of melodrama at that facility, and concentrating on my production duties helped to keep me sane. This was roughly the halfway point of my seven year tenure at this place, which featured an unfortunate association with a professional Jesus worshipper. After the extent of the damage became known, he shouted “ They are doing this for Allah” and he prayed at his desk. After seeing just what a hateful loudmouth Jesus had made him, the spectacle of him praying made me want to puke.
I became alienated from Jesus during these years. Where I had once been tolerant of Christians and Jesus, as one would be with an eccentric relative, I had come to loath the entire affair…and I do not make excuses for Jesus either. I hear of others who found comfort in religion during this difficult time, but that option was simply not available for me.

The Faucet

2007-09-09T20:02:00.001-04:00

dripdripdripdripdripdripdripdripdrip
Today was the day to fix the dripping faucet in the kitchen.
After breakfast, and with the roommate at church, the toolbox was dragged out and a screwdriver pulled out. The cap on the faucet popped off, and the handle was pulled off. Next was a very big ring thing around the contraption, so another trip was made to the tool box, this time to get a very big adjustable wrench. The big ring came off reasonably well, and the skinny ring below it came off with a bit of effort. Now, the issue was getting the thingbob out of the big bolt, so I could replace the washer.
Since there were grooves on the big bolt, it would seem to reason that the thingbob was screwed into it. A third trip to the tool box was made, and a pair of pliers brought out.
It should be noted at this point that there are technically three toolboxes here. There is the big red box, the smaller red box that used to be in the car, and the paper box lid. Two years ago, when I put the gutters up, I carried all the tools that I needed for that chore in the paper box lid, and never did put them up. The paper box lid operates as a de facto tool box.
So the thingbob doesn't want to come out. Twisting it with the pliers does no good, and only serves to flatten the grooves on the bigbolt, and make it a funny shape. This will cause problems later when it is time to put humpty dumpty back together.
Time to go to google, and look for install a washer. I see a bunch of articles about installing a washing machine, and even more ads of people who would like to install it for me. I try googling fix a faucet, and get a long list of people who can fix my faucet. I finally find a home repair site, determine that this is a compression faucet, with a repair that the man says is easy. This is about the level of usefulness I find at the rest of the site.
I find the step by step instructions for installing a washer, only to click in the wrong place and am returned to the page that tells me what type of faucet I am working with. I am starting to yell cusswords at the screen. Finally, after seeing the illustrated page telling me how to cut off the water to the faucet before starting the repair, I find the page telling me how to get the thingbob out of the big bolt. It said to use pliers.
I go back to the kitchen, attach the pliers to the thingbob, shake it a few times gently, and pull it out of the big bolt. I pull the washer at the bottom of the hole out, and put the whole device in a cup and head to Lowes.
I get to the plumbing department, and look for someone to help me. After asking a man with dreadlocks for help, asking a bearded man for help, and pushing a red button, and waiting a few minutes, an African African comes to help. He did find a brandnew thingbob that was a pretty good match for the old one.
I pay for the thingbob and go home.
Does the washer in the bottom go up this way or that way? How do you get it in the little hole in any event? Finally, the thingbob is ready to go in the big bolt. The skinny ring goes on with some difficulty. The big ring goes on with even more difficulty. The handle goes on, after a few more cuss words and a bit of effort. I understand now why plumbers drink so much.
The moment of truth arrives. I turn the water on under the sink, turn the handle, the water comes on, and turn the handle off, the water stops. At first there is no drip, and I start to put the tools up. Then I notice that it is dripping. I turn the water off at the other faucet under the sink, and the dripping stops. I take the package the thingbob came in and go back to Loews to get another.
Replacing the second knob was a bit easier than the first, except when I dropped the spring in the pipe and couldn’t find it. I finally replaced it with an old spring, put the washer, thingbob, and rings in place. The water was turned on under the sink, the handle was turned, the water came out, the water was cut off, and DID NOT LEAK.
Somehow driving a delivery truck will not seem so horrible tomorrow.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
humpty-humped
dumpty-dumpy
googling-goggling
Loews- lowness, lowest, lowell, lobes, lodes, loges, lopes, loses, loves, lose
To my disappointment, spell check did not have a suggestion for thingbob.

he told her the time

2007-09-05T19:29:00.000-04:00

afacetostopaclock
10:08:26 AM
In one minute and ten seconds, we will have a special time.
This is the time when clock and watch ads are photographed.
The Second and Minute hands make a welcoming gesture at this time. Ad designers decided long ago that this makes people want to purchase their goods.
The reason for the 35 spot for the second hand is a bit more obscure.
Now, the question for this seminar: Are timepiece ads really shot at 10:09:25, or do those ads lie?
thatisthemanitalkedtoatthegasstation

radarisapalindrome
12:58:06 PM
This will have to be fast. This is a holiday week, and hourly folk don't get time and a half. Therefore, there is no reason for me to take a full hour for lunch, and I have been requested to only take a half hour.
I was listening to a radio whiner named Mike Gallagher. He is flamboyantly conservative, with a special emphasis on illegal immigration. He speaks often about his Christian beliefs. (I can't bring myself to use the word faith...it has been ruined by the jesus worshippers)
The station he is on in Atlanta is 920 WGKA. It is owned by Salem Broadcasting, which will not carry Neal Boortz because he is pro choice and supports Gay Marriage. (OK, I am taking Squeals word on this. It could be that his syndicate wants too much money to carry his show).
I first became aware of WGKA two years ago, when they had billboards all over town..."WGKA 920 AM...LIBERALS HATE US". Most Liberals don't even know they exist. I am not sure that Liberals exist.
Now, there is a certain commercial that I hear on the Mike Gallagher show on WGKA 920. It is for a souped up radar detector that claims to block the signals from police radar. They advertise that if you get a speeding ticket while using their device, that they will pay for it.
An actress in the commercial says "I've got a smart man in a fast car. Lets get moving".
This product helps people violate the law. Excessive speed has been shown time and time again to be a major factor in highway deaths.
And this "Conservative Christian" is promoting a product that helps people violate this life saving law.

Iraqi Konfused Kid

2007-09-02T22:18:00.000-04:00

longagoandfarawayonadarkandrainynight
I had an exchange with Iraqi Konfused Kid today. He wrote a bit of history about how Shiites got to be the way they are. Mind you, all of this took place 1400 years ago, and history is not an exact science. In fact, a few posts ago I called history the fourth kind of lie, after lies, doggone lies, and statistics.
Of course, when you are in a feud with people, long after the reason for the conflict is forgotten, the cycle of vengeance continues. And when you have agenda driven foreign terrorists fanning the flames of this conflict, it can get even worse.
I was interested in IKK's history enough to try to read it. The problem is, it was not written very well. Here is a key sentence. It is 185 words long( No, this was not written by Miss Teen South Carolina):
"There is no better example of this logic-less method of persuasion that the story of Fatima al-Zahraa's Rib, supposedly, before the death of the prophet, he appointed his cousin, Ali, as his successor, but the first caliph was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, when Ali refused to extend allegiance, Omar ibn al-Khataab, one of the most important companions in Sunni Islam, went to his house and started shouting and threatening to burn it even though Fatima, Ali's wife and Prophet Mohammed's only daughter, is inside, eventually, Omar (sometimes not him, but a minor slaved called Qunfudh) crushed Fatima using the door of the house, that her rib was broken, and she was forced into a miscarriage of the third child Muhsin, before dying six months later, in a notorious day Shiites uphold as 'Zahraa's Martyrdom' Amazingly, Imam Ali, easily the most self-righterous, strongest and most courageous figure in Islam, did absolutely nothing for the death of his wife and child . and went to 'grudgingly' accept the caliphate of Abu Bakr and Omar, even advising the latter on certain matters, for fear over the unity of Islam!!!!"
Would you strap a suicide vest on because of that? I didn't think so.
Anyway, back to IKK's essay. It started out with a few words about "The Passion of the Christ", and about "SouthPark". I have not seen "Passion", and have assumed that the charges of anti-Semitism were merely part of the publicity for the film. Mr. Gibson's lovefest with a traffic cop did put a new light on that issue.
So what does this have to do with people killing each other because of something that happened (or did not happen) in the eighth century? I wish I knew.
So I sent this comment to IKK:
" Hey.
I tried to read this. I think there are some important ideas here. There are many many things about Islam which the people in America do not understand.
The problem is, I did not understand this. Your sentences are much too long. You do not use punctuation properly.
While this might make sense in Arabic, it is so much mumbo jumbo in English.
If you were to edit this, and use shorter sentences and more periods, you might get an important message out to the world.
Now, it is football season, and the people of The United States do not want to be bothered with Arab religions now. Christian leaders tell them that this is a terrorist religion. So not many people may learn from this even if it was re written so that we can understand.
But you can still try. A spell check program is less painful than a suicide bomb."
36 minutes later, there was this counter comment:
" Yes it deserves a re-write because I've edited it a lot when I wrote it, but I don't think it's really mumbo-jumbo, it's simply that you aren't really interested. I don't write only for the Sports-inclined Americans, I simply write what I think."

free style expense report

2007-09-01T23:17:00.000-04:00

whendoesthesunstophurting
9/1/2007 7:15:25 AM
It is saturday morning. The crickets are chirping outside. I step out for a minute to glory in the autumn air.
Yesterday was the memorial for Richard Jewell at a church a mile and a half from here. I am so lucky in so many ways.
I heat water that was in the steamer from yesterdays cooking to pour over ramen noodles. With El Torerro salsa, that is the breakfast of champions. The chips will make a great snack later.

While the internet has its charms, I will eat breakfast on the front porch with the crickets. Buddy Holly may even show up. Meanwhile, there is music to be downloaded inside.

8:07:54 AM Breakfast is done, and there is a picture to work on. Again, I am so lucky to have this craft today.
This image is going to be a mandala. Or rather, based on that geometric concept. I got a first draft done last night, and am beginning to see ways to improve it.
5:11:14 PM My apologies to anyone who wanted to know every little detail of my day. It is a lot easier to write down all that you do when you don't do much.
It has been a good, productive day. The mandala pic is on my desktop now. I am about to make a cd model chart, which will be a few hours of intense work, but is essential to the process. Pictures acquire a life of their own, and once they have the momentum it is almost certain it will be finished.
6:44:01 PM Today is not without trauma. I rode my bike up to Wal Mart looking for pants. I found some 36x36, and tried them on. The length was fine, but they were TIGHT in the waist.
I found some 38x34. While the length is ok, they fit the waist without a struggle.
The issue is, I NEED A 38 WAIST NOW!! After being skinny most of my life, and cheerfully eating as much as I please, I am getting older. And I have the gut to prove it.

last day of summer

2007-08-31T19:38:00.000-04:00

summersalmostgonetimetopackaway
The last day of summer
Labor day has come to mean the last day of summer. I know about the technicality involving the equinox, but realistically this weekend is it. Football is about to erupt, the heat of the summer is broken...and not a minute too soon... and it is about to be autumn.
It has been a day like many others. There is a sign on Canton Hiway that says Honk if you like Peace and Quiet
I saw a car with a Mit Romney bumper sticker this morning. He couldn't decide which lane he wanted to stay in, and kept shifting from left to center to right. I bet he also likes "ZigZag" Zell Miller.
The memorial service for Richard Jewell is this afternoon. The service will be at the Brookhaven Baptist Church, just down the street from Cross Keys High School. While I never attended there, I have known lots of people who did. The radio voice said it was his childhood church. This is one more close touch in a sad sad story.
Another radio voice said that Alberto Gonzales was lucky. The thinking was that the Larry Craig story broke this week, and took attention away from the desire of Mr. Gonzales to spend time with his family. Now, knowing the way the media works, and also knowing that Mr. Craig's tap dancing took place in June, you have to wonder why this news broke out this week.
Listening to the radio, they said that i285 was backed up from Roswell Road to Stone Mountain Freeway. I considered and abandoned alternative plans, including going into town on i75 and driving back up. I looked at the Georgia Navigator and saw a bunch of red stripes before hwy 400 on the "watermelon 500". And I know that wednesday and thursday the perimeter was jammed, and it took me an hour to get home wednesday.
But it is friday, and time for adventure. I got on i285 and drove 55mph all the way to Roswell Road. I celebrated by calling El Torrero and getting dinner.
The summer is now over.