HE SAID WHAT? (A "Match the Quote to the Author" Quiz)

Okay Boys and Girls! It's time for a little fun, and maybe we can a learn a little somethin' along the way. (Or maybe you'll just get freaked out.)

Here's how this is gonna work:
I'm gonna give y'all a list of ten names and a list of ten quotes. Your mission (if you choose to accept it) will be to try and match the author with their particular quote. I have vetted each quote for accuracy- at least two "nails" in every entry. This will be followed by a repeat of the quotes with their particular authors attached. (No "key" like in school- I want everyone to see the quote and the author's name together. More impact. Better retention.) And no peekin' ahead or usin' the Interweb. That's cheatin' and that ain't right.
So- y'all got it? Here we go...


The Authors-

George Washington
Adolph Hitler
Sinclair Lewis
Ben Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
Winston Churchill
Karl Marx
Vladimir Lenin
Joseph Stalin
Abraham Lincoln


The Quotes-

"The writer is the engineer to the human soul."

"I wish it (Christianity) were more productive of good works ... I mean real good works ... not holy-day keeping, sermon-hearing ... or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments despised by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity."

"To place any dependence upon militia, is, assuredly, resting upon a broken staff."

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."

"We must reduce workers' salaries and take away their right to strike."

"It is, of course, much easier to shout, abuse, and howl than to attempt to relate, to explain."

“When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession."

"Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brains."

"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them."



There ya are. Dependin' on how many ya get right, I'd say you're gonna be somewhere between a Student of Modern History and a Scholar of Sorry Guesses.

The Quotes and their Authors-

"The writer is the engineer to the human soul."- Joseph Stalin

"I wish it (Christianity) were more productive of good works ... I mean real good works ... not holy-day keeping, sermon-hearing ... or making long prayers, filled with flatteries and compliments despised by wise men, and much less capable of pleasing the Deity."- Ben Franklin

"To place any dependence upon militia, is, assuredly, resting upon a broken staff."- George Washington

"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."- Thomas Jefferson

"We must reduce workers' salaries and take away their right to strike."- Adolph Hitler

"It is, of course, much easier to shout, abuse, and howl than to attempt to relate, to explain."- Vladimir Lenin

“When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”- Sinclair Lewis

"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession."- Abraham Lincoln

"Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you someone with no heart. Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you someone with no brains."- Winston Churchill

"The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to represent and repress them."- Karl Marx

Now- hopefully this has made you a little interested in what else at least some of these folks had to say, how they felt, what they thought. Fortunately, for us, the World is brimmin' with Good Words from Deep Thinkers. Unfortunately, a great deal of it is buried under a Mountain of Disinformation and Downright Bullshit. Do your own Research. Do your own Thinkin'.

Knowledge is Power. At least, it was at one time...

Fish

THE WAR ON STUFF

As of late, We, as a Nation of Folks, appear to have forgotten how to think for Ourselves. Our Intellectual Sloth has led to our Intellectual Hobblin'. Faith has been traded for Blind Faith. What passes these days for Intelligent Discourse is now nothin' more than a vulgar Exchange of Soundbites lifted from whatever particular flavor of Slanted Media our associates currently find fashionable, which promptly decays into a Swappin' of Insults and Name-Callin'. The Layin' of Blame. The questions "what's wrong?" and "what happened?" are now immediately met with the proclamations "they did it" and "not our fault."

Unproductive? Would that it were that simple. Destructive, Fatalistic, Myopic- these words are among the best at describin' the Current Norm. Accountability? Non-existent. Responsibility? Only in its tiniest, most selfish form.

When posed with a Taxin' Situation, a Complicated Issue, we are all too quick to turn to the Bag of Blurbs with which we have been inundated.

Sorta what I felt like talkin' about, thinkin' about.   Particularly, the oft-pitched "War on..." phrase.

Could we perhaps have a discussion about the solid things, the indisputable things?  The kinds of things that are abundantly clear?  I ain't talkin' about the things that result from a series of assumptions, suppositions, all that "what if" stuff. I'm talkin' about the abundantly clear things that stand on their own.  You know: Conclusions arrived at through careful study, through the gathering and interpretation of things such as historical data rather than high-level supposition and postulation and assumption.  Maybe even throw in a little of that old chestnut, "Scientific Method".  

(Remember that crazy thing you learned about in grade school?  Scientific Method?  Ahh, memories...)

Gettin' off track.  

Notice how everything is referred to as a "War" these days?  I mean, all kindsa stuff.  Used to be, War meant armies and guns and ships and planes and bombs.  But then, at some point, things began to change.  

"The Cold War."  I reckon that's the earliest example of atypical usage of the word "War" that I can think of.  I'm sure there are other examples that predate it, but the Cold War was that thing that sorta replaced all that actual combat, helped change our modern idea of traditional war.  It was a War of Ideologies, of Concepts.  A War waged for the Upper Hand, Influence and Power.  Control.

It ain't like all the old timey "I'll blow your ass to Hell" stuff went away.  Nope.  It never did and likely never will.  But it seemed to narrow in the types of participants: Dictators in Banana Republics, Despots that robbed and oppressed, many times their very own;  Skirmishes over a line in the sand or a stronger neighbor takin' someone else's shit just 'cause they wanted it. Sometimes, Lead against Stones, Poisons versus Sticks.  Armed conflicts sometimes carried out by surrogates and even mercenaries.  (Hell, that's just your classic Rapin' and Pillagin'.  Nothin' to see here.  Move along...)  

Nothin' short of a Catastrophic Global Event or Divine Intervention is gonna stop that shit.  (Take your pick: Armageddon, Meteor Strike, Nuclear War, Space Invaders maybe...)

Wheel in the ditch.  Stand by...

Sorry.  Gonna just make a short list here:

The War on Drugs

The War on Free Speech (First Ammendment)

The War on Guns (Second Amendment)

The War on Religion (Essentially any and all of it)

The War on Christmas (One of the most ridiculous)

The War on Immigration

The War on Family (Typically the "Leave it to Beaver/Father Knows Best" fantasy one)

The Race Wars

The War on Coal (Extra stupid)

The War on Science

The War on Democracy

The Trade Wars

The War on Intellectualism (similar to the War on Science)

I'm sure there's plenty more, but I'll stop here.

I think we can all agree that the word "war" can be considered an aggressive kinda word.  Strangely, we now use it to describe damn-near any and all disagreements or efforts or as a way to paint a particular group as somehow bein' victims, especially ourselves.

Fish~

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/war/

Dylan at the Palace- April 28, 2013

Last night's show at the Palace found Dylan and Company in fine form, movin' through a total of sixteen tunes.

Legendary blues artist Duke Robillard, who figured in heavily on Dylan's 1997 release "Time Out Of Mind", has assumed lead guitar duties with the tourin' band. As might be expected, his presence gave the entire set a strong bluesy feel. Major reworkin' of nearly every song made for a fresh, extremely cohesive night of music.

Dylan spent a great deal of the early part of the show singin' and droppin' in some of the best harp work I have seen from him. The band appeared to be enjoyin' themselves and this came through in the performances. It was evident by the end of the first selection, "Things Have Changed", that this was gonna be a Good One.

The latter portion of the evenin' had Dylan stayin' mostly at the piano. Robillard's guitar gave Dylan a few opportunities to step out in a bit of a different fashion from his usual approach.

Not once did Dylan pick up the guitar. (A minor disappointment for me- I like Dylan's guitar playin'...)

A number of songs had such radically different arrangements from what I was used to hearin', that there were times the band would be well into the intro before I could pin down what they were playin'. A couple times I wasn't even certain what they had begun until the lyrics started.

This show has made on to my Short List of Favorite Dylan Shows.

Damn Good Time...

Fish

Set List:

Things Have Changed*
Love Sick
High Water (For Charlie Patton)*
Soon After Midnight
Early Roman Kings*
Tangled Up In Blue
Pay In Blood
Visions Of Johanna*
Spirit Of The Water
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'*
Blind Willie McTell*
What Good Am I?
Thunder On The Mountain
Scarlet Town
All Along The Watchtower*
Ballad Of A Thin Man*

*Tough, but these are some of the highlights of the evenin' for me...

Of course, it would be wrong not to mention the venue- the Louisville Palace is hands down the most beautiful venue we have here in Louisville. Probsbly the coolest place I have ever had the pleasure to see a show. Breathtakin', exceptional sound, and loaded with history. We should consider ourselves lucky to have such a place.

Thanks, once again, to the Fine Folks at WFPK, without whose complimentary ticket giveaways I would have certainly been unable to attend last night's excellent show!

2010 Assault (Homicide) by Discharge of Firearms- Center for Disease Control (Or- Somebody Got Pissed and Shot and Killed Somebody, 2010)

Okay, Girls and Boys-

There has been so much "information" comin' down the pike of late in regard to guns, gun control, gun violence (ad nauseum), that I felt compelled to do some diggin' on my own and try and find somethin' close to statistically legitimate and specific- particularly "Homicides by Discharge of Firearms" here in this Great Country of Ours.

(No, not bein' sarcastic- I love my Country. So don't give me no shit if this should happen to conflict with your Particular Worldview.)

I finally found that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) doesn't just track my particular morbid statistic, but what appeared to me to be damn near any earthly way a body could cash it in.

Once my head stopped swimmin' from the shear numbers of ways to die and I regained my focus, I found these statistics for "Assault (Homicide) by Discharge of Firearms". ( No, these numbers DO NOT include Accidents or Suicide or Casualties of War. The Suicide count which, by the way, is freakin' huge! A whole other discussion...)

Just to be clear- everyone knows that "homicide" means there was a victim, a "target", and they ended up dead, right? There are no degrees of Dead. Dead is just Dead.

Okay...

Ready?

Here it is, anyway-

In the United States, in 2010:

"Assault (Homicide) Deaths by Discharge of Firearms" (by Age of Victims)-

Less than one year of age- 11
1-4 years of age- 43
5-14 years of age- 165
15-24 years of age- 3,889
25-34 years of age- 3,331
35-44 years of age- 1,673
45-54 years of age- 1097
55-64 years of age- 533
65-74 years of age- 207
75-84 years of age- 90
Over 85 years of age- 34
Not stated- 5

All ages- 11,078

This is the number of American Citizens intentionally shot to death in the United States in 2010.

I wanna go on, extrapolate, but I won't.

Okay- I will. Just a little...

I would ask this: That everyone think of how incensed we become over the disgustin' things that took place in Oklahoma City, New York, and now, Boston. Think about how angry we get (rightfully so), and how urgent Our Demand for Justice. Then, consider Our Lack- nay- Complete Absence of Outrage concernin' the "Statistics" above.

Numbers. All representin' Dead Americans. Intentionally Robbed of Life at the hands of Another- with a Gun. Someone's Parents. Someone's Children. Friends. Companions. All in the space of One Damn Calendar Year, with the Same Damn Tool.

Think about it. Politicize it, if you think that's what's important. These are Facts. Pure as we're gonna get. I can't tell you what to do with it. I expect Most will turn their heads.

But, if you read this, don't act like you didn't know, because now you do.

Fish

What a Rush...

Okay. I admit- I don't ever really recall sittin' and spendin' any more than a few seconds listenin' to Rush Limbaugh at any given time. Felt I'd heard enough clips and quotes via other avenues over the past couple decades to know that Me and Rush are basically without overlap- politically, idealogically, morally, ethically, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... Nope, none.

So, I get in the company van earlier today. The radio is switched to AM (red flag, right there) and Rush is on. So, I assume out of some morbid personal curiosity, I leave it there.

And I listen...

Durin' the course of next three to four minutes that I subject myself to this "show"(?), I hear nothin' but a non-stop, ugly, name-callin', insult-slingin', mockin', derogatory, pessimistic, venom-spewin', piss-and-moan, hate-monger bitch-fest, the likes of which I don't think I have ever had the misfortune of hearin' before. No "meaningful dialogue.". No "discussion". Just mind-blowin', jaw-droppin' rhetoric! I am freakin' out! Yeah! Me...!

(Breathe...)

Damn.
If this stuff is indicative of the kind of thing that apparently shitloads of my Fellow Countrymen are choosin' to include in their regular diet of Sorry-Ass "Entertainment", then a good lot of things instantly become clearer for me to see and a little bit easier to fathom-

The Level of Hate and Intolerance I see around me every day is a Big Mystery no more. The Veil has been lifted.

The Blisterin' Contempt with which we so easily hold Our Down-Trodden and Less-Fortunate is no longer surprisin'. (Expected...?)

(Drink...)

The Deaf Ear and the Blind Eye that so often decide to ignore Fact and Reason, optin' instead to posit that Compassion is a Curse- a Burden yoked only by the Weak- these are now recognizd as Enviable Skills, as in "if I had been a bigger, more closed-minded prick, I might woulda had a better chance..."

The Capacity to be led by the Nose by our Opressors/Manipulators/Abusers- those loungin' across eider down pillows while bein' fed golden grapes by hosts of both Virgins and Harlots- as we relish in every minute of our Stupidity? This is the New Corporate Fascism. The True Face of Capitalism Run Amok and a Populace Turned Commodity. Rendered blind. Lazy. Blissfuly Ignorant. Mean-Spirited Mobs- all Pitchforks and Torches. Tens of thousands sharin' a Single Brain, and a shitty one at that.

Bigotry, Intolerance, even Racism? All dressed up in thousand dollar suits and white and purple robes, espousin' their Proclamations of Infallability and Unwaverin' Blockhead Conviction. Annointin' the Hoarde with their Faux Concern, dumped from heart-shaped boxes made of Death Warrants and Eviction Notices, pasted together with Blood and Bile. Uncompromisin'. Haughty. Swollen Fat with Pride. Drunk on the Sweat of Others.

These Abandonments of Collective Empathy are no longer recognized as Flaws of Character, Errors in Judgment, but are absurdly held up as Examples of the New Virtues, Badges of the Iron-Fisted. The Absolutely Righteous. These Cancers now displace Compassion, Understandin', Empathy- things which were once Treasured and Admired Values, but are now considered only Pathetic, Fragile. Crushable. So Crushable.

At Best? Instrumental in the Design and Implementation of an Untenable Situation.
At worst? Simple Doom.

Unbelievable?

Sadly, no.

Not so much now. No...

I think I might be sick...

"Speed School"

Street Art- Lexington, Kentucky 3/7/2013

Gatewood Galbraith
Image stenciled on the door of a vacant building in downtown Lexington, Kentucky.
Artist Unknown
Photo taken the evening of March 7, 2013