I turn my back on this joint for a few weeks and the whole damn place goes straight to Hell

Fuck a bunch of Hillbilly lyrics and urban developement!

What the fuck???

i love it ,, been trying to get old Munch for those who remember him he is now town mgr of rocky mount va in franklin co. va. the cocke co. of va belive it or not ,.. a cricle slide like a still round and round into a mash barrel ...the special district would be a great idee .. lil chigao blues fest ,, has a nice ring to it dont it ,, to connect the down town and the students would be great somehow dont you think ? bike paths and runner ways would do that pretty good .. i think i heard you could make up to 11 gallons of shine and not get into trouble ,, i guess they figure thats a years worth for a normal drinker
for the cause ;; JC the bootlegging blues music get down ..or something along that line ,, let it begin here and now with all us old hippies

let the moon shine in ;;;heres the opening set for the nightmares ,, the plez tones ,, one arm jimmy and the blasting caps ,, etc..hell we got the tunes we just need to set them to a nightmare rock-a billy beat and save JC downtown with drinking and blues tunes i lioke the bootlegger theme ..

Dooley was a good ole man, he lived below the mill,
Dooley had two daughters and a forty gallon still.
One gal watched the boiler, the other watched the spout,
mama corked the bottles when ole Dooley fetched them out. Do Chorus

The revenue'ers they come for him, a slippin thru the woods,
but Dooley stayed behind them all and never lost his goods.
Dooley was a trader when into town he come,
sugar by the bushel, molasses by the ton.
Do Chorus

I remember very well the day ole Dooley died.
The women folk weren't sorry, and the men stood around and cried.
Now Dooley's on the hillside, he lies there all alone,
they put a jug beside him, with a barrell for a stone.

(Chorus)
Dooley, slippin up the holler
Dooley, tryin to make a dollar
Dooley, gimme a swaller
And I'll pay you back someday

another

DOWN THE ROAD HERE FROM ME THERE'S AN OLD HOLLOW TREE

WHERE YOU LAY DOWN A DOLLAR OR TWO

IF YOU HUSH UP YOUR MUG THEY WILL FILL UP YOUR JUG

WITH THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW





THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW





WAY UP ON THE HILL THERE'S AN OLD WHISKEY STILL

THAT IS RUN BY A HARD WORKING CREW

YOU CAN TELL IF YOU SNIFF AND YOU GET A GOOD WHIFF

THAT THEY'RE MAKING THAT OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW




THE PREACHER CAME BY WITH A TEAR IN HIS EYE

HE SAID THAT HIS WIFE HAD THE FLU

WE TOLD HIM HE OUGHT TO GIVE HER A QUART

OF THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW



MY BROTHER MORT IS SAWED OFF AND SHORT

HE MEASURES JUST FOUR FOOT TWO

BUT HE THINKS HE'S A GIANT WHEN THEY GIVE HIM A PINT

OF THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


MY UNCLE BILL HAS A STILL ON THE HILL

WHERE HE RUNS OFF A GALLON OR TWO

THE BIRDS IN THE SKY GET SO HIGH THEY CAN'T FLY

ON THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW



MY AUNT JANE HAS A BRAND NEW PERFUME

IT HAS SUCH A SWEET SMELLING P U

IMAGINE HER SURPRISE WHEN SHE HAD IT ANALYZED

IT WAS GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW :

i love it ,, been trying to get old Munch for those who remember him he is now town mgr of rocky mount va in franklin co. va. the cocke co. of va belive it or not ,.. a cricle slide like a still round and round into a mash barrel ...the special district would be a great idee .. lil chigao blues fest ,, has a nice ring to it dont it ,, to connect the down town and the students would be great somehow dont you think ? bike paths and runner ways would do that pretty good .. i think i heard you could make up to 11 gallons of shine and not get into trouble ,, i guess they figure thats a years worth for a normal drinker
for the cause ;; JC the bootlegging blues music get down ..or something along that line ,, let it begin here and now with all us old hippies

let the moon shine in ;;;heres the opening set for the nightmares ,, the plez tones ,, one arm jimmy and the blasting caps ,, etc..hell we got the tunes we just need to set them to a nightmare rock-a billy beat and save JC downtown with drinking and blues tunes i lioke the bootlegger theme ..

Dooley was a good ole man, he lived below the mill,
Dooley had two daughters and a forty gallon still.
One gal watched the boiler, the other watched the spout,
mama corked the bottles when ole Dooley fetched them out. Do Chorus

The revenue'ers they come for him, a slippin thru the woods,
but Dooley stayed behind them all and never lost his goods.
Dooley was a trader when into town he come,
sugar by the bushel, molasses by the ton.
Do Chorus

I remember very well the day ole Dooley died.
The women folk weren't sorry, and the men stood around and cried.
Now Dooley's on the hillside, he lies there all alone,
they put a jug beside him, with a barrell for a stone.

(Chorus)
Dooley, slippin up the holler
Dooley, tryin to make a dollar
Dooley, gimme a swaller
And I'll pay you back someday

another

DOWN THE ROAD HERE FROM ME THERE'S AN OLD HOLLOW TREE

WHERE YOU LAY DOWN A DOLLAR OR TWO

IF YOU HUSH UP YOUR MUG THEY WILL FILL UP YOUR JUG

WITH THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW





THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW





WAY UP ON THE HILL THERE'S AN OLD WHISKEY STILL

THAT IS RUN BY A HARD WORKING CREW

YOU CAN TELL IF YOU SNIFF AND YOU GET A GOOD WHIFF

THAT THEY'RE MAKING THAT OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW




THE PREACHER CAME BY WITH A TEAR IN HIS EYE

HE SAID THAT HIS WIFE HAD THE FLU

WE TOLD HIM HE OUGHT TO GIVE HER A QUART

OF THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW



MY BROTHER MORT IS SAWED OFF AND SHORT

HE MEASURES JUST FOUR FOOT TWO

BUT HE THINKS HE'S A GIANT WHEN THEY GIVE HIM A PINT

OF THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


MY UNCLE BILL HAS A STILL ON THE HILL

WHERE HE RUNS OFF A GALLON OR TWO

THE BIRDS IN THE SKY GET SO HIGH THEY CAN'T FLY

ON THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW


THEY CALL IT THAT GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW

AND THEM THAT REFUSE IT ARE FEW

YOU MAY GO ROUND THE BEND

BUT YOU'LL COME BACK AGAIN FOR THE GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW



MY AUNT JANE HAS A BRAND NEW PERFUME

IT HAS SUCH A SWEET SMELLING P U

IMAGINE HER SURPRISE WHEN SHE HAD IT ANALYZED

IT WAS GOOD OLD MOUNTAIN DEW :

Interesting that downtown development would fall under the Industrial Development Board. Hopefully that reflects their desire to do something with all the empty industrial property down there and not the intention to lure industry to downtown. There's some choice buildings downtown and on Walnut Street. Places we are so used to seeing, we wouldn't think of them as having possibility for cool development. Nashville is trying to rehab a sad little part of town known as the Gulch. In fact, that's the "upscale" name they've given it, The Gulch.

I'd like to see that property across from the downtown parking lot turned into loft housing and light commercial. That would open up the corridor and promote foot traffic from the tree streets.

I'd also focus on establishing bike paths and pedestrian-friendly walkways. JC is already a great place for runners -- why not capitalize on that by extending the known running routes into an official pedestrian corridor. Plant lots of laurel and rhododendrons. Install some lighting. Nothing fancy, just functional.

I'd draw a circle around the university, the tree streets, downtown and the new library. Call it something. The name Little Chicago certainly works for me as it suggests history and (egad) hipness, but names don't mean too much unless they come from the bottom up instead of from the top down. See above, The Gulch. It's a crappy name, but it's what it's always been known as the railroad gulch -- so it works. It doesn't have to be THAT descriptive either. The Garden District in New Orleans is a good example. What does Garden District mean? Nothing. It's not like there's any [public] gardens down there. Or Magazine -- what is that? The name of a street. You could call the area the Roan District. that's nice. Goes with Roan Mountain. Plant more laurel and rhododendrons. Viola!

The basic premise of New Urbanism is to preserve a mix of residential and commercial zoning (which you already have) while encouraging pedestrian traffic (which you need). I can see a twist on that would work for a mad little mountain town like JC. The equation would include the usual New Urban mix along with a dash of college-town (granola?) mountain lifestyle infrastructure like the bike paths and trolleys. Call it New Ruralism. I'd look to Asheville, Boulder, and Boone, N.C. for inspiration. Also, maybe Oxford, Ohio. JC is so small there is no reason why the south end of the city couldn't be cultivated into a healthy-outdoors-lifestyle kind of place. I think there's bonus points to be had by promoting mountain sports, arts and music as a tourist draw. I can totally imagine a getaway "vacation" package in JC that would include hiking, rafting, dining at Galloways, music shows at the Down Home and (build it and they will come) shopping in the downtown district. JC could have the mountain-based tourist destination that Pigeon Forge screwed up so freakin' bad. Sure there's nutcases who think a mountain getaway isn't complete without off-price shopping -- but there's just as many people who want to really see mountains, really hear mountain music and see real mountain arts and crafts.

A yearly festival would be a good thing too. Look at what JonesboroUGH did with storytelling for crying out loud. Johnson City could do a big yearly Blues Fest to go with the Little Chicago name. You'd HAVE to have beer sales outside -- so make the most of it and have only local brewers Rocky River, Highlander (Asheville) and whatever the Otter comes up with if they ever start brewing again. The local brewery thing also goes with the bootlegging history associated with Little Chicago. Damn, wouldn't it be fun to have a MOONSHINE FESTIVAL! How much fun would THAT be? Have that coincide with Race Week and you've got a hit! WOOOO hoooo!

Okay, now I'm just babbling.

no it is holey ground ,, did you know a creek is under their somewhere ,, they just made a concrete cover and paved over it somewhere down there ,,would you put it on the second floor ? thats the only way parking could happen downtown , is the old parking garage still there?

Today Iraq, Tomorrow...

Hey Dink, have they considered putting a Wal-Mart Super Center downtown???

the johnson city , industrial dev athority is looking for a new exe dir ,, downtown seems to be their biggest concern ,,, so waht would you recomend doing to make downtown a better place ,, if thats not to much of a value statement .... I allways thought about apts filled with college students with a shuttle or rail car running back and forth from downtown and the campus ,of some kind like,, the city had in days of old ,, when it was "little Chigao" ,, student housing on the second fl.is what a study said to help downtown,, in grundy va where they are moving the town out of flood plain ,, i guess get people there first ,, lit'l chicago inplies ,, gambleing ,, jazz , blues etc..clubs ... is that what we need ("here in no name city" -ie paint your wagon)students living over a bar ? sounds good to me so .. far ....what would you guys and gals on here is what i would do or like to see done ,,, if un ... you or your drinking buddy got the job as exe dir of down town jc economic environment ect development,,

“We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun...”
-not penned by Kurt Haggerdorn, thank god.

What you described Plez, pretty much is exactly how cbgb’s became CBGB’s. But that makes what you and Brook wrote about JC all that much more impressive. The invisible arm of christ in jc was hard to twist and impossible to tatoo(at least back then). To make space(with naive and blunted force) for “art” in that appalachian climate was incredible.

Think about it, it’s never happened in Canada.

Who fell under the spell of the Industrial Music Complex? Well, the TV in Poor Richards, but thats about it. You were DIY when DIY wasn’t cool (or had a cable network).

“Love is a battlefield...”
-Pat Benatar(sic)

To remember all the college-liberals-in-training singing along to “she’s a surfboard...” or “applebutter made in train”, arm in arm with their college-neo-conservatives-in-training, passing spliffs to the unbathed-future-nadar-voters-inutero. Knocking back pitchers of beer with future super walmart shoppers: throwing darts and throwing up with future homeowners and, dare I say it: parents. Who knew?

For perspective: does anyone think REM or U2 have gotten better in the last decade or two? Butthole Surfers imploded with corporate funding. Hell, Paul Westerburg is still alive and isn’t even governor of Minnesota. He is a parent, though. hmm.

“Starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight...”
-Madonna

Has anyone brought up the night the jesusfreaks all came to a certain downtown parking lot to save souls? They were singing and praying about shutting down the devilworshippers bookstore and bring the wiccans to xmas. Close TAP, because, if they saved all the gays, there’d be no more “Aids” to be “Project-ed” in “Tri-Cities.” As for booze, Greyhound buses and Im-Morrel music, I don’t know what they were thinking.

The bookstore eventually was set afire and closed and most of the queers and needle-dopers died. Buses and Morrels’ are still there and a tatoo place! so I’m not sure who won...

but for fucksake, somebody told me People actually live downtown now. imagine.

When I lived in chicago my bus stop was near a gentlemans club that I had to pass to get home. There was always two generic and interchangeable pie-faced young “men” stationed outside at opposite ends of the building, about 4 yards from the bouncer doors(marked by velvet ropes).

The first young guy would say under his breath, without making eye contact, “Jesus loves you.” and when I went passed the main entrance and approached the other kid he would say, very quickly under his breath, “Godblessyou...”

They were certain they had intervened in my path. This reminded me of home.

Nice comments from Ms. Hines on why the J.C. scene is so memorable and important to all of us, despite the fact that nothing much actually happened, if you think about it.

It's like this. One flower in the middle of a field of flowers? No big deal. But when you find one growing between the cracks on a busy sidewalk, you have to say, "Wow, those things find a way to live anywhere. Right on, my flower brother!" Or something like that.

Here's a J.C. story that relates. Stinky Finger had done their Down Home gigs and a few others, but they hadn't been around for very long. It was still more of a joke idea (well, it was always a joke, just a daggone good one) and not a REAL band yet. So, Mike and Lynne have some people visiting them from out of town, probably from Kansas, and they tell their friends about Stinky Finger and say they wish SF could play for them while they're here. This is at M&L's house. Anyway, figuring we'd just get no for an answer, we decide to go down to Burt at the Club Venus and ask him if Stinky Finger, Beat Yo' Mutha, Old Plez and maybe somebody else could play one night while they're here. There was no PA at the place. We said we'd rent or borrow a PA from somewhere if Burt said yes.

Well, not only did Burt say yes, he said "What about Wednesday AND Thursday?" (Or maybe it was Thursday and Friday--how can I be expected to remember, but it was two nights in a row.) Well, this just blew us away, the idea that to get a real gig, all you had to do was show up in a place and ask to play. This probably never occurs to most people who can play but never have. They imagine there's some sort of mysterious process to it all, when, if the scene is small enough, there is no process beyond just showing up and asking.

So, then, we go down to Morrell's and rent the worst Traynor PA setup you have ever heard. Puke and Ugly would've sounded better with police bullhorns, really. But we didn't care. I mean, we took that PA back to Morrell's the next day and didn't use it on the second night, and I don't remember what we did use, maybe an upgrade from Morrell's or maybe one borrowed from Franky Spangler. I can't remember.

What Brook was saying made me think of that because, in a city with a REAL music scene, you'd probably never be able to do that as easily. I mean, think about it--you don't just walk in to the Bluebird Cafe or CBGB's or wherever and say, "Can I play here tomorrow night?" You don't even walk into the Down Home or into your local sports bar that has classic rock cover bands on Saturday night and ask that. But you did with Burt, 'cause he didn't have a music club. He just had a space behind his pizza place that he wasn't using very much except to let people drink dollar pitchers of Meister Brau and was wondering if maybe these kids could help him to get it to make a little money.

And probably the best thing for us was that Burt didn't exactly have discriminating taste. It wasn't like he was sitting there and thinking, "Hmm. . . these boys are ok, but they really need to work on their stage presence and get tighter on the changes." No, he was just thinking, "I have 80 dollars in my hand, 50 of which goes to the band. Now, the band just drank 40 dollars worth of beer, and their 20 friends who came to watch them have ordered 4 large calzones and about 10 slices, and that table over there is on their 9th pitcher of Meister Brau. Let's see, that's about 100 bucks more than I was gonna pull in if we didn't have the band here. Ok, let's keep having bands, and for the moment, no high class deesco."

I lived in Auburn, Alabama for a long time, too, and it was much the same. There was no real music scene, no industry for it at all, just like 30 local people who divided into bands and played sometimes. In my entire "career" (ha!) as a player, I have gotten exactly ONE gig because I gave someone a tape or CD of my music and had them to check it out. The rest were exactly like those gigs for Mike and Lynne's visiting friends.

--Plez

Here's something totally non-political that's been swishing around in my brain for a while. I followed Allen's link to the Stinky Finger site with the Psychic Sex Turnips on it and found Bruce Honeycutt's quote,

"...What is with this sudden rush of nostalgia for the way things used to be in Johnson freakin' City. Hello! Does anyone remember how we used to sit around watching cartoons doing bong hits whilst complaining we had nothing to do? This so called scene everyone and their grandmother is on about consisted of...what...three or four bands? At best? And of those bands, only Stinky and the Nightmares were really any good...and Plane Jane Has a Date...honestly did anyone truly ever LIKE them? Did you? They had good hair. And my bands...GSI...buahahaha...damn we SUUUUCKED....but we did have a Japanese girl playing bass! Did any of YOU guys ever have a Japanese girl bass player?...Yep, we were way ahead of our time...The scene (as it was), can only really be summed up in one word...and that word is BEER. We drank beer. We rolled in beer. We swam in large vats of beer. Remember? Of course you don't because of all the beer. Things weren't better then, we were all DRUNK..."

I know it's absurd to think about Johnson City as an idyllic place where life gelled and suddenly made sense, but when you live in a place where nothing happens, and it's up to you to do stuff, then doing nothing can be very good practice for doing something. After the bong-hits, people actually DID stuff! And there's nothing wrong with BEER! Stephen Wright said "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not." Hell, I'm drinking a beer right now. A very good one, brewed in Sevierville by a guy from Knoxville named Ron Downer... you have to check this place out if you get a chance, "Rocky River Brewing Company." Damn good shit. Ask your bartender in JC to pick up their brew -- especially the IPA.

I know there is lots of wonderment about what the hell was so great about JC when most of the time we were bored to tears... but think about it. Imagine living in Atlanta or Miami or New York during those formative years of high school and college. All around you there's tons of art and music and commerce. What incentive do you have to do anything on your own? You're spending all your time checking out what other people are doing. Being a spectator. Where does that get you?

Lets imagine for a second the name of this blog is New York Stories and we are all here discussing stuff that we watched happen that we weren't a part of. Maybe the "quality" of spectating would be higher. Maybe we would be talking about the rise of some band that now sells songs to a car maker or a beauty product. Would we even care enough to say anything about it 10 or 15 or 20 years later? What would be the point?

Johnson City was so devoid of distraction that you HAD to jump right in and do something -- beer or no beer. Not all the bands were good. Even the "good" bands were questionable at times. But, I think we had a connection to each other that we might not have had in another place.

Shit, having worked at the Carroll Reece Museum, I would say that even the art was outstanding in JC during the time. I will never forget Billy Malone's and Duncan Anderson's senior show. Duncan, I LOVED the bunny stuff, especially the furry paintings matching the bunny suit video -- BUT my favorite piece was Billy's. It's probably my all-time favorite artistic statement ever. He took a photograph of Marcel Duchamp to Janet Browning's pastel portrait hut in the mall and had her draw a portrait from it. I'm sure being none the wiser, she took his 30 bucks and did the hack portrait of the father of DaDa and signed her name in the lower right hand corner. He framed this and put it in his show, signing his name on the mat below hers. OH MY GOD, IN A WORLD OF SHIT, THIS MAKES ME HAPPY. Billy Malone, you are my hero! If you are out there, please send a scan!

And it wasn't just high falluting' statements like this that are worth remembering. Plane Jane's Andrew (thanks, Tony) Moore did tropical watercolors, and later REM-industiral-esque work that totally rocked. As I understand it, Andrew had never taken any art classes at the university level and by god, he did these beautiful large-scale paintings that completely energized the JC art scene. It was Moore's unadulterated talent that fueled the interest of JC art buyers and created the market for lots of other artists to peddle their wares in our little backwater. I see stuff at Cumberland Gallery here in Nashville that was passe there, then.

My feeling is if it weren't for boredom, bong-hits and cartoons, there'd be nothing to talk about now. Too bad the folks on "My Life As A Sitcom" won't ever see this shit. They are too busy feeding their jones for the least common denominator. Something we never tolerated.

we blow a big wind about democracy and freedom -- but, when push comes to a shove -- (depending on where you live) your neighbors would pretty much mow you down in their SUV with mass-mania appropriate to college-football playoffs before honoring your right to dissent.

case in point. Granted this happened in Cobb County (Gringrich's district), Georgia and God help anyone who lives there, but sheesh -- how ugly is this? A 42-year-old mother of four is spat on, told to get the fuck out of the country, and told to "go to hell" by an elderly man -- in front of television cameras. Why? Because she was exercising her right to free speech by holding a sign that read, "No War for Oil" along the route of a presidential motorcade.

It makes me glad these people live in gated communities. When the shit hits the fan, maybe someone will have the good sense to lock them in.

ah! i love the ready.gov stuff. i'm getting a t-shirt!

if you haven't already, see the footage of the washington press corps laughing at Ari Fleischer's big, honking lie about vote buying. (needs RealPlayer... scroll out to 28 or 29 minutes into the clip)

here's the exchange:
Q -- the French press is quoting actually two different diplomats from the United States State Department that -- they're highlighting that the United States is giving some sort of agreements or benefits to Colombia -- and other non-members of the Security Council --

MR. FLEISCHER: I haven't seen the story. And you already have the answer, about what this will be decided on. But think about the implications of what you're saying. You're saying that the leaders of other nations are buyable. And that is not an acceptable proposition. (Laughter.)
Thank you.
END 1:03 P.M. EST

your tax dollars at work: ready, set, govern.

the wife loves to buy them "unnesessary plastic objects" at da Wal Mart ,, we are geeting a new super wal mart in Norton VA, where i work ,, they supply , or i guess i need to say are the top 10 supply-ers of the top 20 most used personal items ,, fact 1.3 million people work at wal mart, and it is growing ,, its the new general store or company store as we used to say in the old coal camps

Wal-Mart Rocks!! Man you are gonna love having a Wal-Mart Super Center in Elizabethton! That is just so fucking awesome!!! It will change the way you shop!

A few years ago Kingsport got it’s first Wal-Mart Super Center, and all I can say is it has been super!! Some folks around here said that Wal-Mart was going to destroy the mom and pop stores downtown,,, duh! Lousy service, crappy selection, and shitty parking destroyed the mom and pop stores down town!! And the mall finished off down town 30 years ago!! Also, there are mom and pop operations literally in the shadow of the JC Wal-Mart that are doing just fine! Wal-Mart does not kill the small family store, Sears, Wards, and JC Penny already did that! Are we to lament the passing of Montgomery Wards?

Until Wal-Mart came to town, we did not know how bad we were getting gouged around here!! Heck the same pair of jeans at Wal-Mart often costs 1/3 more at the Mall, and you have to put up with the haughty attitude of the clerks there,,, fuck that shit, “Just go to Wal-Mart” should become the mantra of the proletariat! I have heard others before say that they would never shop at a Wal-Mart. I am sure this concerns the Walton family so much they cannot sleep at night......

Wal-Mart Super Center is coming to Elizabethton... Man you are so fucking lucky to get a brand new Wal-Mart!!

Allan, you freakin' RULE!

and.. here's some more video. Johnny b. Goode featuring Burt!

PST #3

THE TOP 10 REASONS WHY THIRSTY'S BURNED DOWN

10. KKK had mistaken it for the gay bar.
9. The band playing, "Toyz", was just too damn hot.
8. Smokin' in the boyz room.
7. A true act of God.
6. Spandex meets Winston lOO's.
5. Harley Hog farts; spontaneous human combustion (Tie).
4. Redneck on acid: "Fuck you buddy, you're the devil!"
3. Expresso machine overheated.
2. Failure of band to read the warning on hairspray can.
1. My little secret!

-- Kelvis

on the club fire thing...

Mark E. Ryalls called the other day to say that "metal needs large, open spaces. Squeeze it in itty bitty clubs, and someone is going to get hurt."

Remember when Thirsty's burned? Anyone recall the circumstances? Anyone recall Kevin Hurley's Top Ten Reasons Why Thirsty's Burned as published in Psychic Sex Turnip? It's quite foggy, but does, "Wintons to Spanex" ring any bells?

There was a band that played at the West Warrick club, a few months back that shot video of their pyro bouncing off the ceiling and spewing back down to the stage. That was before the owners installed new "soundproofing," which was apparently egg-crate foam purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond instead of at a stage supply company. What's the diff? Flammability, price and whether or not it really serves as acoustic insulation.

Acoustic insulation is freakin' expensive because it's crazy-ass engineered shit that won't catch on fire and actually makes a room quieter. The really sad thing is that the club owners/stage manager went out and bought cheap egg-crate which didn't make the club any quieter, and ended up killing 96 people. It's like lining a room with lighter fluid.

Hey ya'll... here's an admin note...
I've added a *comments* feature which allows non-bloggers to respond to bloggers. It also allows you to respond to a blogger without making a top-level post.

Super Wal Mart in Elizabethton. Well, since Wal Mart is already firmly entrenched in Elizabethton, it doesn't really make much of a difference I don't think, with the exception of adding another grocery store into the competition (god, what a miserable place to get freakin' groceries). I've heard there has been some local retailors objecting, but as someone who wrote to the Johnson City Press recently said, Wal Mart doesn't sell antiques anyway. That said, the only store I hate going in worse than Elizabethton's Wal Mart is Johnson City's Super Wal Mart. So I will definitely not be a shopper at the new super hell-hole (insert all comments lamenting the homogenization of our society here). Speaking of Elizabethton, I have heard on occasion that a couple of decades back, Elizabethton somehow rebuffed Anheiser-Busch from locating a production plant there. God forbid high-paying jobs should have come to town, making a product already sold all through town. But, I'm not sure exactly what happened.

One more aside on the Iraq thing, I read through parts of a book today at the library titled The Threatening Storm: the case for invading Iraq by Kenneth Pollack. It's well organized and probably makes the best case I've heard of why we have no choice but to invade. I read a couple of parts where the author might still be differing with the current administration, one where he felt that Al Qaeda should be properly defanged before going on to Iraq (insert duct tape jokes here). So there's a thought on the other side to balance some of my rants.

Finally, I loved the Plez story about calling the fire department on the Nightmares show; too funny. Had they actually busted up the crowd, I'm sure the plan would have worked...

Super Wal-Mart is coming to Elizabethton. What do you think of that, Bobby?

I found the Pleztones movies, Brook. Thanks. I had no idea we looked that good! I might be able to quit my self-esteem raising therapy sessions now 'cause, I mean, $hit, we rock! Thanks a lot.

Yo and hello, y'all,

Plez here. Hmm. . . what can anybody say about that nightclub fire thing? Awful stuff. Here's what I say about it. What I fear most is not nightclub fires but an overreaction to them. Y'know, I'm sure you're likelier to die falling down your own stairs than in a nightclub fire. Overall. Of course, if someone is using indoor fireworks in your house, I guess your odds of falling down your own stairs go WAY up as you try to find the exit. I heard that Nashville started doing surprise inspections of local spots. Of course, they will find violations. Naturally, they will. But does that mean we need some sort of super crackdown on nightclub safety? Sprinklers everywhere, no matter how large the club? Would this be a good idea? I don't know. Safety is good. Overreactions are not. But lemme ask this one, too: just what in the heck was Great White's pyro guy thinking? I guess that band still didn't realize they weren't stadium rock ready anymore. In Rupp Arena, I'm sure those showers of sparks would've been no problem. In that place, wow, it's not too surprising that they set something on fire, is it? I mean, I'm not the first guy to notice that from the video, either.

Ok, I have an apology to make, and it does relate to this fire safety issue. Drew, forgive me for telling one of our secrets without your permission. Here goes. The Nightmares were playing one night at the old Quarterbacks, which should've held around 40 people, if you remember. Well, this night, there were about 300 in there or whatever. You all remember how unbelievably crowded that place could get. Well, the Pleztones were playing next door at the Pub Outback, and would you believe our crowd was somewhat SMALLER than theirs, like maybe smaller by about 290 or so. So Drew and I got the idea of walking down to the pay phone at Poor Richard's and making a little call to the fire dept. to report this dangerous situation at Quarterbacks. Heck, if we could get the cops to make 100 or so of 'em leave, they'd probably make their way over to the Pub, huh? Well, after a call to emergency services, we couldn't tell that anything ever happened, which I'm glad of, 'cause (even though I'm laughing remembering this) that was NOT a nice thing to do, so forgive us, Nightmares, and remember, it was probably fourteen or fifteen years ago, and they make Subway sandwiches in that place now.

Ok, most dangerous place I ever remember playing? A frat house we used to play at put us in a basement that had no exit whatsoever except up the stairs. If that place had gotten thick with smoke, whoa that would've been difficult. I'm glad it never happened. And even beyond the fire escape danger, this place was bad. Another story. Pleztones were playing there, with Stinky Finger. (We actually did two or three frat house shows together back then, and the money was better, by far, than the 4 bucks apiece you could expect at Quarterbacks or wherever.) Anyway, at the end of our set, we're rocking out, big closing chord style. Crash, smash, bang-a, bang-a, bang kinda thing. And and the last band, Plez decided to do his stadium rock jump in the air and land on the last chord, y'know. Very Angus indeed. Only, the ceiling here is about 8 feet high, and just below that are various pipes and wires and such. All up to modern codes, I'm sure. So, instead of ending with me doing a little Pete Townshend power chord deal, I crack my head right on a big black sewer pipe. I had a headache for a long time after that, but when I came back down, my hand went triumphantly in the air with RnR salute to the frat guys and their sorority girlfriends. Never let 'em see you sweat. But even more so, never let 'em know you just gave yourself a slight concussion.

Plez out. And by the way, very nice work from all of you on peace and war and such. I've been reading for a while without commentary. Brook, I haven't had a chance to look at the Pleztones stuff you put up, but thanks. Is it still there? I actually couldn't find the link you were talking about at first.

Ok, Plez definitely out.

I went to a party last night at Jeff Winter's house (Texas Vampires), and he had a few Nightmare's bootleg tapes, but I didn't ask what they were. Thought I'd mention it in case someone is interested. He said he wouldn't mind making copies for someone. He also had Stinky Finger's CD One Hit Too Many, and I listened to that since I only remember hearing them once in the fall, 1987. Enjoyed it. Came home and felt all inspired to write something creative about the J.C. scene, and wrote a poem, but am hesitant to post it yet. It's really kinda dumb. I need to work on it.

A Modest Proposal:

Why don't we put Avlimil in the drinking water, like flouride???

tonight on Bill Moyers NOW -- PBS 8pm central, 9pm eastern

In a NOW interview, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh reveals the startling story of how during the war in Afghanistan, the American government authorized the evacuation to Pakistan of thousands of enemy troops cornered by U.S. forces. U.S. forces were ordered to create a safe corridor for the November 2001 evacuation, which was orchestrated by Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf. more

Brook: Thanks for all the Nightmares videos!!!

Glenn Reynolds (www.instpundit.com & Law Prof at UT)

How to be A Peace Protester Without Being A Hypocrite

Dink, it's the Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag, Country Joe and the Fish.

new video footage!
Nightmares reunion show, first nite -- Surfboard.

Dubya quote; Your either for us or your against us .. if you harbor terriost you are our enemy... thats what i got out of PBS frontline last night .... we are at war and i dont think the bush admin will stop at Iraq .. if you harbor terroist as the song says .. we'll put a boot in you ass ... rem the old 1 2 3 what are we fighting for ,,? dont ask me i dont give dam its off to vietam /.. woopee we'er all going to die .. who did that catfish joe or something like that .. maybe this war will create some good tunes ,, see something good may come of this yet ....

Dear All

I noticed Brook mentioned the anti war rally at ETSU. I went to the one in Raleigh NC on Feb. 15th. It was fairly larger than I expected, at least 5000 people.

I won't put my two cents about Iraq here, since it's basically preaching to the choir.

However, if you go to www.nowarsign.org, you can order a fancy anti-war sign for your own front yard, just like I've got. 4 or 5 of my neighbors, too.

Damn..... I just can't resist. I think the Bush Admin. wants the war not mainly for Iraqi oil. I think they want to do to Iraq what Bush Sr. (with Cheney as his Sect. of Defense) did in Panama in 1989; ensure a client state in a strategic area to ensure as many large military bases as they want, to hold sway in the Middle East. "Our" bases in Panama allow this in South America, same as the Phillipines in Asia. I guess Israel and Saudi just aren't reliable enough for the New American Century.

Love,

Kurt

now presumed dead: ty longley

http://www.careenergy.com/ energy ed for the masses

http://www.careenergy.com/ energy ed for the masses

this tv crew was already at the show doing a story on club safety.

So, we might give Turkey 26 billion dollars to store shit in their country to fight a war. Why stop there though? You know, lets take all that money we are saving from welfare muthas and, damn! Rhent-a-Kountry, lets send them our tired and our poor and our huddled masses. Our welfare muthas! We could store the statue of liberty, since the FRENCH gave it to us and we don't really need it anymore and since it's a symbolic target for evildoers...our women wanting abortions, most of CANADA for god'ssakes, our same-sex parents and their children. People who say "New-CUE-Lur". The human genome, organic foods, hemophiliacs, all the FM radio stations below 96.3 that aren't formatted for christian financial counseling... piccolo players goddammit, don't forget them. We could pay Turkey a monthly fee (due before the 10th, of course) to store ANYTHING or anyone yearning to breath free, that we don't know how to imbue with human rights to...
as for anything tom(roger) fried man has to say: listen to act two in particular, act three for grins. act one if you have an hour to blow waiting for a ride to Ankara.

That was a scary Frontline tonight. So the Hawks are in control at the Bush Whitehouse. Clearly recognized as dangerous and unworkable by Bush 41, Bush 43 has now converted to the cause of the right-wing Hawks. Colin Powell has effectively lost in the tug of war for the President's ear. It is clear that going to war with Iraq is only the first step in a far broader plan. The entire middle east, then North Korea; all to be democratized. Iraq is merely the first step. Against the will of the world, the world will undergo a series of wars to reshape the world in our image. Now, democracy is a good thing, to be sure, but it is not clear by no means how easy it will be to sweep through and set up democratic nations. Hell, its not clear that we can successfully do it in any nation. For that matter, we're having our own problems with democracy in the United States. This plan is crazy and very dangerous. our allies and many foriegn policy experts don't think this will work; many in the current defense department believe this is wrong, and they purposefully leaked it to the media in hopes of exposing it to the light of public strutiny, before the 2002 elections. But we the people blew it, and Bush interprets the elections as a mandate to proceed.

Another point became clear from this show; while the President may believe he is dealing with terrorism, our focus and foriegn policy has effectively been coopted by this dramatic shift to the doctrine of preemptive military action. This is a first in our country. So really, if we have to draw WW II comparison, as I have read so much of on the web lately, Nazi Germany adopted much of this strategy too. Our country must not become an invader, an agressor; yet it is here before our eyes, all without much credible debate, thanks to coward politicians and a corporate whore media.

I have talked to people who believe that 9/11 gives us a mandate to do whatever we want in the world. I have talked to people that claim the mere fact that Iraq didn't apologize for 9/11, even though it didn't do it, is reason enough for war. I have talked to people that advocate nuclear responses to those that resist our military campaigns. Is this what we want? Does this sound consistent with our country's history?

Next post I'll try and lighten up some, but I'm revved up right now.

To follow up Bill's point and steal a famous quote simultaneously:

I was born there, there is no there there.

NO, we are not from Johnson City.... of course not,,, there is no such place. Brook made it all up.

From time to time I take a peek at where traffic is coming from and today I noticed traffic coming from a blog called My Brain, Right Now. I love this blog. The author has all kinds of great photos, like his "mouth turning 35," and "possum fur nipple warmers." These are happy, happy things.

The author wonders if the post'ers on JC Stories are really from a place called Johnson City. Wow... how do you answer that?

Tom Friedman (New York Times):

Tell the Truth

your faith in dute tape must be stronger than in the Marines......

Allen's link to neo-conservative, Charles Krauthammer's odd Washington Post piece, Holiday from History reminded me that there's a new FRONTLINE airing tomorrow, War Behind Closed Doors. It airs Thursday, February 20 on your local PBS station at 9pm eastern and 8pm central. It will look at whether the publicly reported reasons--fear of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction or a desire to insure and protect America's access to oil--are only masking the real reason for the war. Should be interesting.

Now to Krauthammer's really, really bizarre column. He has two points: that the earth faces extinction via terrorist use of weapons of mass destruction AND that Clinton is responsible for this.

It is head-spinning to say the least that a neo-conservative has seen an extinction he doesn't like, but the real audacity is for Krauthammer to suggest that the Clinton administration was soft on terrorism when it was the Clinton Administration that provided the incoming Bush admin the devastating terrorism warning known as the Hart-Rudman Commission Report on January 21, 2001 which predicted an attack on the United States where, "Americans will likely die on American soil, possibly in large numbers." In it, Hart specifically mentioned the lack of preparation for "a weapon of mass destruction in a high-rise building." After months of stonewalling, Senator Hart was so concerned he personally visited the Bush White House, meeting National Security adviser Condoleezza Rice on September 6, just five days before the terrorist attacks. Condi said she would "pass on" his concerns.

The rest is history, and it hasn't been a holiday.

Dick Cheney shelved the report and instead opted to spearhead his own group but did nothing for FOUR months while they were negotiating with the Taliban to build an oil pipeline from Central Asia thru Afghanistan to Pakistan. From February 5, 2001 until August 4, 2001, the oily Bush administration threw caution to the wind hoping to do bidness with the Taliban who were known to have ties to Osama bin Laden. The Clinton Administration was so concerned about OBL's terrorist camps in Afghanistan that he cut commercial ties in July 1999 (in addition to launching a missile attack in 1998) after the Taliban refused to hand over Osama bin Laden.

Clinton wasn't on a Holiday from History. Moreover, it would be incorrect to say the Bush administration was "holiday" (although Bush had only days before 9-11 emerged from his month-long Crawford Ranch Vacation). His inattention was borne of a business trip.

Dennis Rodman now wants a reality show of his life ... oooooooonnnnnnnnnoooooooooo Mr. Bill

Holiday From History

I'm embarrassed to say- but I saw that part of My Life is a Sitcom. They said "...and up next The Sampsons from Johnson City, Tenn" So I had to watch. Yuck- that guy's accent was so forced and he claimed to live on a farm even though you could tell his three sons had never seen a live cow before. It was bad all the way around (stupid show period). Reality TV is out of control!

Good Plez links! AND as a bonus Bleu Jackson passes in front of the camera.

Check out the new Pleztones footage in the links section.

Congratulations are in order for Johnson City's big debut on ABC Family Channel's show My Life is a Sitcom! The Sampson's offer a fairly good caricature of JC-residentialism, do they not? The family won the round based on their potential to be a "modern-day Andy Griffith show," reinforcing the cliche, if it's "country" and on TV, it must be Mayberry.

Don't know about you guys, but I'm really tired of everything rural being compared to The Andy Griffith Show. It's like comparing every tacky Italian Restaurant wall sculpture to Michelangelo's David. See, here's The Sampson's:


And here is Andy Griffith:


Sampsons:


Andy:


The Andy Griffith Show was art. As the de-facto leader of Mayberry, Andy Taylor was an authority figure comfortable enough with himself to allow others to be themselves. The ethic was understated. Outsiders were invited in. The fallen were lifted up. Disruptions were resolved, and not every detail required explanation. Wouldn't it be nice if JC were more like Mayberry?

The elegant equation that was Andy Griffith didn't owe EVERYTHING FREAKIN THING to the rural setting. It could just as well in a 'borough in Chicago, or the shore in Maine, or a village in Ethiopia. Just because you have a country cooter on the teevee, doesn't mean you've got Andy Griffith.

Google Buys Blogger

Sen. Robert Byrd's (D-WV) speech on the Senate floor 2/12/03:

Sleepwalking Through History

Me again: I guess the only direction chaos can run is amuck, huh?

One more thing: My mom made me this thing to hang on my wall when I was a kid, and I still have it. It's corny and kind of trite, but there is truth in it: Friends have feelings too, so don't bruise 'em; you must take 'em as you find 'em, or you'll lose 'em. A simple principle for a child, it seems to me, is a rule that applies also to adults who run countries. Don't burn your bridges behind you. Don't piss off your allies. Don't ignore the fact that you belong to a community larger than yourself.

What's so disturbing about all this war thing is that it will set a dangerous precedent for similar behavior on the part of any other country in the world besides us. Pre-emption is a new, scary thing---to go into a country unprovoked with no real, solid evidence that you can show, other than that their leader is unstable (and, to me, that's the pot calling the kettle black) and that they might have weapons, none of which compare to the number and magnitude of our own. If we can do this now, then so can everyone else---it will change the face of the world forever. It will render the United Nations and international law null and void. It will result in paranoia and chaos run amuck. The world doesn't like a bully--and we're looking much more like the bully than anyone else.

from TAD DICKENS...

Time for another early-morning post.
 
First, I want to start by saying, Rick, I'm a big fan, and Dink, I don't know you, but if Frank Bowman had your back, then you must be OK. It appears, though, that you both are more than a little misguided on this Iraq thing. I want to make this simple. As I've said before, we have had Saddam Hussein penned in for years, and we regularly engage him in battle. On top of that, we now have U2s patrolling the skies, constant satellite imaging, and lots of operatives on the ground. On the other hand, our old friend Mr. bin Ladin is still making videos which have wide play throughout the Arab world, exhorting others to take up his cause. We're damned right to be afraid of something, but it ain't in Iraq. Maybe someday, but right now, we've still got a score to settle with the al-quaeda.
 
For some reason, despite the fact that we own Afghanistan now, we're not very interested in it. Yes, we have the occasional firefight with Taliban and stragglers from The Base, but why in the fuck are we mobilizing our forces in a preliminary show of strength in Iraq when we're much better off putting every goddam soldier we can spare in Afghanistan? I've been listening to some talk about "the good war" on this blog, and how that was justified and Iraq is not. Some here may disagree with me, but I think Afghanistan is the closest we've come to WWII since 1945. First off, there was just a humanitarian mess going on over there. Woman were absolutely subjugated, ancient religious icons were destroyed out of pure ignorance, and the leadership hosted a man whose main intention is to control the Middle East and kill anyone who eats at McDonald's. It took the destruction of U.S. property to get us over there, which is too bad, but it finally woke us up to do something in that fucking warlord-driven pit besides give them weapons and training to fight the Russians. Then, just like we did in Iraq a decade ago, we got the hell out of there before the job was finished. Talk about not learning from our HISTORY!
 
We should have every cave in eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan staked out or occupied by our troops. If Musharef don't like it, rock the casbah, I say, but no, it's not happening. I remember Bush talking all that shit about getting bin Ladin "dead or alive," like a goddam cowboy or something. But now it's not so important for us to have him, our leaders say. What a bunch of limp-dick bullshit. Absolutely nothing would be symbolically better at this point to demoralize The Base and make all our duct-tape buying, plastic hoarding pussies feel good than to show us all that motherfucker's head sticking out of the sand, with maggots coming out of his eyes. I fucking hate Osama bin Ladin for what he's done to this country, and I'm pissed off at our leaders for letting him go on with impunity. You just don't let a woman-hating religious zealot set the agenda for anybody, but that's exactly what we're letting him do. Meanwhile, we're all set to go in and bomb fucking Iraq for no good reason other than it's easier than plan A.
 
I have a hypothesis about the reason why the Bushies favor plan A2. Republicans have to have a boogie man. Whether it's hippies or communists or Willie Horton or the Ayatollah or Bill Clinton or welfare mothers, they have to prop up a straw man to give people something to hate, so they can get on with the business of making themselves richer and more powerful. I know this is a broad stroke, but I've just seen it too many times.What better boogie man to have than bin Ladin. He serves three purposes: He makes people scared and angry and frustrated; he allows the Bushies to get rid of their now-useless boogie man, Saddam; and he gives our corporations easier excuses to control more oil. Hydrogen cells my ASS! The next 20 years are crucial to the history of our environment, and Bush is talking about hydrogen cell vehicles, which won't be available for, you guessed it, about another 20 years. This literally fell into the administration's lap, unless you believe the conspiracy theories out there (I don't. I think we just plain old screwed the pooch with our handling of bin Ladin before Sept 11. But that's another discussion.)
 
My more dovish blog colleagues will disagree, but there are plenty of good reasons to be rid of Saddam, and none of them have to do with oil. Read Thomas Friedman in the New York Times for good arguments about fucking that devil. And in other scenarios down the road, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with doing it. But there is absolutely no need to go in there now, while we're making slow and steady progress with the inspections, and the world is getting angrier and angrier with us about our plans. But here we are, ready to sacrifice our own soldiers, not to mention possibly hundreds of thousands of our friends in Israel and Turkey (who will both get a few shots of chemical warhead action -- remember, Patriot missles DON'T WORK!)
 
But now we're in a nearly untenable position. Even Colin Powell has sold his soul, for Christ's sake. No good can come of this. I wanted to travel the world before I died, but fuck that now. We'll all just be fucking targets after we do it this way. But who cares, right? It'll make for exciting TV, we'll have something to feel good about, and the baby boomers -- well, they're just going to have to get used to having no decent retirement, unless they were already rich, of course.
 
I'm tired now, and I'm going to bed.

(admin note: this is from Tad Dickens)

A really good Case Against the War:

"This autumn and winter, nuclear danger has returned, in a new form, accompanied by danger from the junior siblings in the mass destruction family, chemical and biological weapons. Now it is not a crisis between two superpowers but the planned war to overthrow the government of Iraq that, like a sentence of execution that has been passed but must go through its final appeals before being carried out, we have talked to death. (Has any war been so lengthily premeditated before it was launched?) Iraq, the United States insists, possesses some of these weapons. To take them away, the United States will overthrow the Iraqi government. No circumstance is more likely to provoke Iraq to use any forbidden weapons it has. In that event, the Bush Administration has repeatedly said, it will itself consider the use of nuclear weapons. Has there ever been a clearer or more present danger of the use of weapons of mass destruction?" continue...

Dink, in the Vietnam era, about the time of Kent State, ETSU was one of the few colleges in america to host a pro-vietnam war rally.... so really they have come along way.

Brook,,,, are you saying George Bush and company have lied to us???? My faith in humanity is lost,,, I feel so dirty and used, it is like the passing of innocence...... no, wait a minute, it isn't at all like that, IT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT OF THE PARTY THAT SPAWNED LIMBAUGH, O'REILLY AND THE LOT,,, A BUNCH OF FUCKING LIARS,,,, LIARS EVERYONE OF THEM!! DON'T BELEIVE A FUCKING THING THEY SAY, THEY ARE LIARS!!!!! How can you tell a Republican/Conservative is lying?? Their mouth is moving!! (and they may have their hands on the Holy Bible, because they are a bunch of fucking hypocrites too!!!)

On the other hand, the code orange gives me another chance to say: GO VOLS!!!

There, I feel better now......

YOU ARE BEING LIED TO
Terror Alert Partly Based on Fabricated Information

Feb. 13 — A key piece of the information leading to recent terror alerts was fabricated, according to two senior law enforcement officials in Washington and New York.

 The officials said that a claim made by a captured al Qaeda member that Washington, New York or Florida would be hit by a "dirty bomb" sometime this week had proven to be a product of his imagination.

The informant described a detailed plan that an al Qaeda cell operating in either Virginia or Detroit had developed a way to slip past airport scanners with dirty bombs encased in shoes, suitcases, or laptops, sources told ABCNEWS. The informant reportedly cited specific targets of government buildings and Christian or clerical centers.

"This piece of that puzzle turns out to be fabricated and therefore the reason for a lot of the alarm, particularly in Washington this week, has been dissipated after they found out that this information was not true," said Vince Cannistraro, former CIA counter-terrorism chief and ABCNEWS consultant.

It was only after the threat level was elevated to orange — meaning high — last week, that the informant was subjected to a polygraph test by the FBI, officials told ABCNEWS.

"This person did not pass," said Cannistraro. more

their faith in duct tape is strong

ETSU rallies against war

Marchers in Thursday’s peace demonstration at East Tennessee State University said they hoped to be seen as patriotic participants in democracy, not anti-American dissidents.

“This is what America is all about,” Josh Gambrel, president of the newly organized campus Green Party, said in a pre-march rally at the ETSU amphitheater. “I wouldn’t be fighting if I didn’t think there was something worth fighting for.”

Intended to protest the Bush administration’s path toward war with Iraq, the rally and march drew about 150 participants, as well as a few babies in arms and “protest dogs” on leashes. ETSU students, faculty and staff members and a few local residents braved cold twilight temperatures and brisk winds to lend their voices to the effort. more

that was some protest in JC allright .. heck in the 60's they would have never been so limp .. they would not have any script to follow .. they would have busted some serious winders in the admin building just like Ernest T . Bass .. took over the Cottage and issued a list of demands .. kids today are as sterial as their thinking .. programed to work at micky D's i guess and just follow orders ... rage rage against da machine ..not just sit around and sing cumbya .. raise hell if your going to protest do it right , not so well manered ..jesh do i have to thunk of everything ..

weekly required proselytizing to justify my faith-based initiative funding:

sometimes i wish the Patriot Act was a little "patriotier"
get your war on : http://www.mnftiu.cc/

get your shit straight:
http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/oo/sidebars/America/Berry.html

http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/om/archive_om/Berry/Local_Economy.html

I read Stupid White Men when it came out last year,,, Awesome book! A must read for all!!

Dogtown and Z Boys was one of the best documentaries ever and there was a lesson about doing your own thing and doing it well and letting the rest follow in your wake. That photo of Gary reminds me of seeing him play -- he used that same move with the bass. Now I know the rest of the story.

We decided a long time ago not to impose any kind of "test" to have the right to vote. The really bothersome thing about the butterfly ballots in Florida was the number of "over-votes." Where there was more than one candidate punched. How easy would it have been for anyone to to just make extra punches. Why wasn't that a widespread phenomena outside of the one district.

No matter who won or lost, the questions surrounding the election in Florida should worry any patriot. But we all know Rush isn't a patriot. No one who claims a pimple on his ass as a reason to sit out the war is not worthy of patriot-status. Al Gore volunteered. Where was Rush? Hiding out, applying ointment to his butt.

Well, I am reading books, where you are just listening to right-wing radio.

Florida's 'Disappeared Voters': Disfranchised by the GOP

How the GOP Gamed the System in Florida

Florida Net Too Wide in Purging of Votor Rolls

"Thousands of legal, law abiding black citizens thrown off the voter rolls in Florida. In some districts blacks were kept from the voting booths at gunpoint" Thats bullshit.

Thats good, let Michael Moore think for you. That leaves more time for skateboarding

"Algore"- a Limbaugh nickname. Nobody mentioned Al Gore in the blog recently as far as I can recall, but since you did: Al Gore won, Bush just stole the presidency
that's all. Recently I started reading "Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore. The opening chapter re-shocked me all over again about our American coup. Thousands of legal, law abiding black citizens thrown off the voter rolls in Florida. In some districts blacks were kept from the voting booths at gunpoint. I'm not going to get over it, and nobody should. Welcome to the United Banana Republic of America.

I ran across some skateboarding pictures. This one is Mr. Gary Miller catching an air at Kona skate park in Jacksonville FL circa a decade or two ago. I recently saw a really good movie about skateboarding: Dogtown and Z Boys.

Or fuckin' towel heads?

Would y'all prefer Ab-dul Mo'hammed?

(Never has there been such unity against a war BEFORE it happens.)
10 MILLION JOIN WORLDWIDE PEACE PROTESTS

Up to 10 million people on five continents are expected to demonstrate against the probable war in Iraq on Saturday, in some of the largest peace marches ever known.

Yesterday, up to 400 cities in 60 countries, from Antarctica to Pacific islands, confirmed that peace rallies, vigils and marches would take place. Of all major countries, only China is absent from the growing list which includes more than 300 cities in Europe and north America, 50 in Asia and Latin America, 10 in Africa and 20 in Australia and Oceania.

Many countries will witness the largest demonstrations against war they have ever seen.

What is extraordinary, say the organisers, is the depth and breadth of opposition that the US and Britain are meeting across the world before a war has even started.

"This is unprecedented. Demonstrations only got this large against the Vietnam war at the height of the conflict, years after it started," said a spokesman for Answer, a coalition of US peace groups which helped organise a march of 200,000 people last month in Washington. more...

Im with you Dink. I'll be damned if im gonna hide from anybody. If Abdul's gotta get his ass kicked, so be it. And for the rest of y'all, get over it, Algore lost.

Hugs and kisses

covering up a hooter? that just aint right ... shotacrossthebow .. is right on brother ... would you rather hide in the back room of your basement all duct taped in .. or send a Marine over there to kick some terriost butt .. ?..the choice is ours .. talk and idealistic hopes that they dont want to kill us is not healty for us ,, unless you like plastic and duct tape and actually think that will help... + if we get an added bonus ,, Sadam has oil .. have you filled up lately .. 25 bucks it cost me this morning,, and i got a monte carlo ,, I dont even have a gas drinking ,,drug dealer supporting ,,,infidel,,,,, baby killing,,, tree cutting SUV.. peace will only come from victory.. and so will cheaper gas ..

If you've visited Shots Across the Bow to see Rich's "Those who do not learn from history" statement, you might have already figured out the mistake in his reasoning. By his own words, "the American public had no interest in the war in Europe prior to the Japanese attack." Dude! There was already a war going on. Plenty of people had died, cities were ruined and balance of power in Europe was in peril. My point was that the mobilization of anti-war sentiment is happening PRIOR to a war breaking out. Anti-war activists wish to preserve the balance of power and avoid the loss of life and the destruction of cities BEFORE any of this happens.

Another thing, Gulf War Part Two, is NOT aimed at putting a stop to widespread conflict or human atrocities (as the Democratic-backed intervention in World War II was). It is about outfitting an unprecedented global empire (as outlined by William Kristol, Richard Pearle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Jeb Bush in the Project for a New American Century mission statement which pines for "some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor"), and jack-booting any attempts by rival nations, or free people anywhere, to do anything about it.

Indeed, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. That's why I would suggest that Mr. Shots Across The Bow familiarize himself with Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War which documents how Athens' corrupted democracy was brought to ruin by the hunger for empire in the conquest of Sicily.

Proof that not everyone agrees with the discussion on JC Stories.
shotsacrossthebow

heh heh, made you look!

ANTI-WAR BANNER HUNG OVER BILLBOARD ON I-40 IN WEST KNOXVILLE
BANNER READS: FRODO HAS FAILED -- BUSH HAS THE RING

Knoxville, Tennessee, February 13, 2003 - Local Earth First! activists have hung a giant anti-war banner over an interstate billboard in west Knoxville this morning. The banner, which reads, ?Frodo has failed ? Bush has the ring!? was hung early this morning over a Hooter?s billboard in a plot of land between I-40, Gallaher View Road, and Kingston Pike.

Thousands of morning rush hour commuters headed eastbound on I-40 are expected to see the message. Two climbers are staying up on the billboard in an attempt to display the banner all day long as part of a nonviolent direct action against the impending war on Iraq. The activists also hope to advertise the rally against the war this Saturday at 11am at Morrell and Kingston Pike.


Call the Tromo billboard company, and ask them to please not press charges! (865) 539-1242

Someone sent this to me, and I thought it was funny and apt:

To the tune of "If you're happy and you know it"

If you cannot find Osama, bomb Iraq.
If the markets are a drama, bomb Iraq.
If the terrorists are frisky,
Pakistan is looking shifty,
North Korea is too risky,
Bomb Iraq.

If we have no allies with us, bomb Iraq.
If we think someone has dissed us, bomb Iraq.
So to hell with the inspections,
Let's look tough for the elections,
Close your mind and take directions,
Bomb Iraq.

True story from the garage at my dealership:

Q: "How do you get rid of the sticky goo left behind when you remove duct tape?"

A: "Why would you remove duct tape?........ What would cause you to do that?"

Remember kids, duct tape and WD-40 are the yin and yang of the american tool box! ( that according to the Bob and Tom show, which we don't get around here anymore)

One more true story. Two summers ago I traveled to New Mexico backpacking with a group of boy scouts I work with, One of the kids had made his wallet out of duct tape, and it looked and fuctioned like any wallet would, except that it was all silver and canvas textured. More amazingly he had a photo of the tux he had worn to his prom, or planned to, that was likewise made of our silver adhesive companion, duct tape. The fit appeared quite good, though I would not reccommend dancing in it.

works good with the kids also .... i got a swing set taped with it in about 5 places ,, a big wheel and several garden implements would like to tape the 12 yr old mouth but mom wont let me .. and you though that duct tape training was just for good tunes ,, aint there a book about the many uses of it .. would like to have stock in duct tape today .. any quotes ?

if access to duct tape is the measure of survival, then that makes musicians to most adapted for living thru the bush administration.

anyone got any duct tape i can get a hold of ?
maybe we should leave the drinking and lieing to the pol sci majors( ie..me ,,, feel beter yet bill?) and the killing to the ROTC guys and gals .. and the sweet music that makes us question it all to da rockers .. long live elvis , buddy holly and brian and the nightmares ,, they are like the old movie eddie and the crusers .. gone but not forgotten ,,, things aint been right since them odd longhaired englishmen came over here anyway ,, and the stones stole da blues ... thats what made the JC music different we were hanging on to real hard rock and roll .. rock a billy and all that in the style of joey ramone ,, the kind of music that makes you want to move around and shake
another jc story ;; i worked the campus radio high atop the warp/pickle buliding and hated to play the play list .. wam , boy george etc,, so i locked myself in and played wilson picket cause it was his birthday ,, if i rem sometime in march ,, they threw me off the air and i had to do the news the rest of the sem ... does anyone rem that ,, the program director had been trying to cautch me playing my stuff i had from buc ct. ramones, new wave,,, etc.. and ever time he would hear me he would run down and try to make a tape so he could give it to tom headly and bust me .. but frank bowman of LIFE would call me and tell me to jump back to the playlist of boy george and Wam ...drove the guy crazy .. Zimmerman i think was his name .... they finally got me on the "wicked pickets" birth day i couldnt take it any more ,, it was all picket that 1/2 hour before they busted me ,, anyway i did drug bust stories and things like that on my news ,, i was creating the theme for the dayly show on comedy central ... hey someone stole my idee ..

Yes Marcel, the Garland Oil Company spill, our toast to enviromentalists everywhere!!!!

Chris, you found out Brian and the Nightmares dirty secret... We never had our instruments plugged in. We carried a kiss tribute band everywhere we went and they played our stuff backstage. As a theater person you should know... It's all about providing a quality music experience for the crowd.

What Bill????? The Garland Oil Company spill?

By the way Marcel, I was in Grundy last week and they have the road clear,,, except for one greasy spot in front of the old Beatrice mine,,, so you might still wanna stay away from there.....

The Quotable Bush:

"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein and his willingness to terrorize himself." -Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29.

From (The Washington Post - Tuesday, February 11, 2003)

let us prey

dammit, i'm going to have to have a word with my college composition prof!

Actually, the word Milquetoast is a comic, Frenchish reworking of ye olde English term 'milk toast', a bland dish of toast soaked in milk. The term re-entered our language through the lens of a cartoonist named Webster who created a 'meek' comic-strip character of the name "Caspar Milquetoast."

Again, I couldn't agree with Chris more. The title "Johnson City Stories" was an unfortunate misnomer. I really didn't think it thru. It was one of those caffeinated Sunday afternoon kind of impromptu projects that got done and posted without much ado. I totally want all kinds of ideas expressed here. Storytelling. Soap-boxing. Announcement-putting. Picture posting. Whatever. It's your space. I just make sure people can be added when they request.

In order to underscore the commitment to the the whole shebang of expression, I've re-designed the page and added "everything else" to the title. Hopefully this covers it. Johnson City Stories and Everything Else.

First of all... Bill has a military-age kid?!! Whaaaaa? I never knew.

Secondly, it's Milquetoast -- and i only mention this because it is one of my all-time favorite words -- along with hootenanny and epiphenomenal.

And thirdly -- I totally stand with anyone voicing dissent to the dangerous and stupid war and civil-liberty-eradicating crap being tossed at us by the bad monkey in the White House. But, I know not all JC bloggers share this view. I just want to affirm that fact. So there's my administrator's disclaimer. Please use this space to hash this shit out. Play nice and wear protection.

With that in mind, I want to add something that I find disturbing. In the last couple of weeks I received emails and calls from people who are really REALLY worried and depressed about this impending war. I guess people figure I stay on top of this shit and can lend some perspective to their anxiety. Like everyone else, I feel like I'm watching a train wreck, and there isn't shit I can do. I'm outraged, and as the calls have emails have shown me, retreat isn't an option. Current events have captured the attention the vast majority of the politically inactive -- have mobilized the mainstream, middle ground, middle class, middle american. Never has there been such unity against a war BEFORE it happens. The challenge is to do something with this energy. It's not enough to get mad and it feels crappy to just be depressed.

Chris is absolutely right in pointing fury at corporate media. The media took a right turn during the 90s with the help a very well-funded right-wing political apparatus (this is a great article outlining the "vast conservative conspiracy"). We might not have the money (yet, or ever), but we have the numbers because we (the people, as opposed to left, right and middle) ARE the majority. So, if any of the shit going on keeps you awake at night -- do what you can. Write a letter to the editor. Email news directors at CNN and MSNBC. Complain. Go to a demonstration. Put a bumper sticker on your car. Write your representatives. Be heard while it's still legal.

I KNOW all us bloggers don't agree on this stuff and that's okay. Please, grab the (virtual) pitcher of beer, pour a mug, and join the rant in our little virtual round table at Quarterbacks.

Yep, and yet some people persist in complaining about the "liberal media." Oy vey!

Oh and by the way, the National Threat Level is now orange,,,,,, GO VOLS!!!!!!

Chris’ post about life in Baghdad should go out to every major newspaper. He stated some legitimate concerns that our media never will. And that picture of the "mile of death" is a good example of the level of "reporting" we got (or rather didn’t get) from the Desert Storm round. I went back and looked at that series of photos; it’s infuriating that these pictures are basically below the American radar. What really makes me sick is when Bush goes on about concerns for the Iraqi people being a contributing factor for war. Bull shit. He doesn’t give a toss about the Iraqi people. If it was really all about the people, we wouldn’t be gearing up to bomb them back to the stone-age.

One of the major complaints against Saddam is that he has killed many innocents, so in retaliation, we will go bomb many innocents. People won’t even give it much thought really. Even when it happens, there are plenty of other channels to tune in to anyway. If we were really so concerned about civilians, we would risk our own lives and go in without bombing an entire city. If all the war supporters were really so concerned they should consult the handy links Chris provided and enlist. Other countries on the UN Security Council, such as Russia, France and Germany are formulating a plan to have more inspectors and a UN peacekeeping force rather than war. It still doesn’t have to be war; there are still other ways that can be tried. Didn’t the concept of "last resort" used to be associated with war?

Bill Edwards, all the best to your son. Chris Slaughter, I don’t think we ever really met, but next time you’re in JC I owe you a beer or something for so ably expressing your most righteous anger about this most serious and saddening situation in the world. Barbara, met your mom recently at the library, we talked about the Nightmares reunion a bit; nice lady. One more round of reunion shows would be nice before the world blows up. Maybe next time it could be Plez, Stinky Finger, and the Nightmares...

Oh wait a minute,,,, Tennesse is already on the map, it's right beside North Carolina.....nevermind

By the way, the Knoxville newspaper today had a front page story about the American Bowling Congress being held at the Knoxville Civic Colisium..... That will finally put Tennessee on the map!!!!!

Gee, I go without posting a few days and the whole place goes all to hell.....

OK, my two cents on Iraq for what it is worth (probably about 2 cents would be my guess).

Some of you may know that my son is now out of school and has joined the army. I bring this up because Friday I spoke to a Republican friend who lambasted me for not supporting the military. Bull shit! I can support the military just fine without believing in an unjustified war. And by the way Chris (Edwards) is at Ft. Benning and I ask you all to keep this brave young man in your thoughts and prayers. I also ask all to remember that when King George sends another 250,000 troops to the desert, that each has a mommy and daddy, brothers and sisters, wives and children at home worried and fretful.

I note that even a conservative like Tom Clancey is quoted that “War is nothing but theft writ large,” and l believe that this war is about oil.

Also Chris (Slaughter) I personally believe that World War II was justifiable, but I am not sure if I am reading you right.....

Chris: Loved everything you said.
Every time I think about this war happening I see nothing but Iraqi children dying; their mothers trying to save them. And every time I tell my conservative friends that I don't agree with this war, they tell me I'm too naive and idealistic. How can not wanting innocent people to die possibly be idealistic? To me, it sounds like just a nice place to start. To them I say, gee, you must not expect much out of this existence. When I saw The Two Towers recently I thought, we need to go back to fighting wars with swords and bows and arrows. Man on man, and woman on woman. But even then war wasn't fair---10,000 take on 300 while whoever is in power sits on an ivory throne in some faraway place. Maybe I'm idealistic, but I'm not going to stop now---believing that somehow, some way, we have it in our capacity to solve problems differently, creatively, humanely. We're the most powerful country in the world, with all the nuclear power we need to destory the planet, yet other countries aren't allowed to harbor weapons of mass destruction? I don't see the U.N. security council searching North Dakota or Oak Ridge. And suddenly I'm remembering seeing some "live footage" on t.v. of "illegal aliens" crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. It was so funny to me---these cameras following these little black moving dots (one of those night time scenes where the
land is all white) crossing the border----eeek---like we're all supposed to freak out and resort to fear while the newscaster says that border patrol is "lax". I'm telling you----it is giving in to our fear that will destory us. I see it in my own daily journey through this life, so surely it would apply to us as a country---fear is our enemy. Our OWN fear and need to control the world is what led to Sept. 11. God help us.

You know, Rick, I wish I could give everybody a fucking CASE of the shit I'm on right now.... ummm ... I mean, what I probably should've said is... ummm, just in CASE someone is monitering this for terrorist secret code or something .... umm, jeez. fuck ... Well...
....
Rick, I've been told that before...

God FORBID he switches to decaf! Chris, I'm sending you a freight car load of chocolate covered espresso beans; you don't even need to brew these babies, just chew 'em right up whilst you sit at your computer. Where you want that delivered?

Chris, you might wanna switch to decaf........

DA DA. the KILLING gun. a POISON oil. freedom of WHAT? political INVASION. goals UNCLEAR.
WAR think about. CAREFUL recklessness. FUTURE planet. tv FODDER. it IS only life. or is IT?

Rock on Chris!!!!!!!!

The "Mile of Death". During the night of the 25th of February and the day of the 26th of February, 1991, Allied aircraft strafed and bombed a stretch of the Jahra Highway. A large convoy of Iraqis were trying to make a haste retreat back to Baghdad, as the Allied Forces retook Kuwait City. Many Iraqis were killed on this highway. Estimates vary on the precise number of Iraqis killed during the Gulf War. Very few images of Iraqi dead have been previously published.

From The Unseen Gulf War by Peter Turnley

On the Right to Bear Absolutely Impotent Arms:
The right to bear a puny gun is an empty promise. And I'm tired of hearing NRA true-believers proppin that tired one up every time they open their mouths. Do you REALLY think this young government of professional politicians and money-changers is going to let any of us have access to any genuine means of overthrowing it? Right. Just try building a bomb or buying a tank and see where that gets you. BUT, according to a number of our founding rich landowners -- EACH of us should have that RIGHT! Right? Just admit it. You like guns. You like the noise. You like the beauty and simplicity of design and its singular effectiveness. You like the way it feels in your hands, the smell in the air after its been fired. You like seeing the effect of a bullet hitting an object. You like developing your skill with the gun. You like cleaning it. You like admiring its industrial craftsmanship. You like reading about them and collecting them. You like knowing that you could, if you wanted to, inspire fear or command respect. You like to think that it can somehow help you maintain control over your life, over unforeseeable, horribe events. You like guns, you like guns, you like guns. BUT -- I'm sorry, a gun aint a bomb -- you can drop all the guns you want on a tyrannical politician's fortress of concrete and steel and it aint going to do jack shit. If you REALLY buy that this 'right' to bear arms business has any MEANING at all -- I best be seeing ya'll workin to get me some fucking guided missles. And one of them bombs that melts human flesh but leaves buildings standing! Boy, wouldnt that come in handy! They should call it the 'tidy' bomb.

Veterans For Common Sense (http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/)

Helo all

Despite rumors to the contrary, I am still alive. And...I found something funny. Apologies if you've seen it before.

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/bushnonazi.html

Skynyrd Guitarist Says Proof Is There For Iraq War

I'm here for ya bill ..

Now I feel safer...

a JC/gun story;
I was taking a planning class under Marcionia (big eye tal yun) at ETSU and the class was hard ,, well Al Maki came by and wanted to go somewhere for a road trip ..i dont rem where ,, i needed to study and the next day was the last day to drop classes .i had a D average ... i had to make a decision ..drop or partay.. so i decided the thing to do was to shoot the book and drop the class and find peace .. alan maki humored me and went with me outside city limits and we placed the book on the side of a hill and i pulled out my 38 from my boot and shot the dang thing .. maki guessed the bullet would land on page 365 , it landed on 363 4 and 5 ,,, i went back to school for other classes and saw the big eyetalyun and he ask why i had droped .. i told him hey "if a 38 couldnt get through that book there was no way i could" .. the next year when i took the class over he was really easy on me ,, wonder why humm .. he still tells his classes about that and has ask me back several times to speak to his classes since.. i have went to talk about coummunity dev stuff not ballsitic's .. when i first went to ETSU i carried my 38 in my boot . where i came from everyone carried a gun ,, no big deal really in Keokee Va on the harlan county ky boarder.... i could never figure out where everyone there at ETSU carried there guns ,, all tennis shoes no boots .. after a while i got to where i didnt carry it to school as i was acclaimated to the college way of life..it also fell out of my boot a few times when i would do the gator and flip out of my wheelchair .. it would slide across the dance floor and i would say excuse me and crawl over and tuck it back in .. hey cant a cripple man gator with out being staired at?

Let's try this again..... EME will be at the Casbah Thurs.Feb. 6th @ 9. We got snowed out the first show.
Come on out for strange music from the basement.

Man, those pictures of shazam were cool. I just love the do that blonde has. I need it. Like water.

Shazam JC Dates

Lisa, you were right - the 20th at the Casbah.

Also, at Gatsby's on the 21st and March 1st.

i feel safer already!

have you not heard .. Ashcroft made us all sky marshall's .. we gun ownes got a promotion we can pack everywhere we go now ... that way whem abdul jumps up and tries to take over the burger king we can take him out .. weeeeeeee

What?

Bill, Raelians are French and therefore considered combattant d'ennemi (pas humain) according to Section C, ii of the Homeland Security Statute. If they want funding they will have to develop a drug dependency and file for Faith-based-twelve-step-program-initiative money. Or, if their children are really poor, but really smart (and can pass a battery of tests to prove the program is worthwhile) they may be eligible under the revamped Head Start initiative.

Otherwise, they'll have to do what I do and sign up as a contractor with the pentagon. You know when you buy something that says "some assembly required" and you have nuts and bolts left over? Well I sell them to ole 5-sides for $10 a pop!

Rifleman Hunter S. Thompson on what the GOP gains from war:
They get control of the U.S. economy, their friends get rich. These are not philosopher-kings we're talking about. These are politicians. It's a very sleazy way of using the system. One of the problems today is that what's going on today is not as complex as it seems. The Pentagon just asked for another $14 billion more in the budget, and it's already $28 billion. [Defense spending in the 2003 budget rose $19.4 billion, to $364.6 billion]. That's one sector of the economy that's not down the tubes. So, some people are getting rich off of this. It's the oligarchy. I believe the Republicans have never thought that democracy was anything but a tribal myth. The GOP is the party of capital. It's pretty basic. And it may have something to do with the deterioration of educational system in this country. I don't think Bush has the slightest intention or concern about educating the public.

see his interview in Salon today, mmm thompsony.

Tony, did the Raelians get thier "Faith Based Charities" funding from "President" Bush yet?

Spam and Bill: I have it on excellent authority that in fact, Lynyrd Skynyrd will not be inducted into the conflagration/engulfing to end the Milky Way. A vast, some say infinite, Yankee-type conspiracy is in play and refuses to recognize Southern Rock. We can start a letter writing campaign:

His Holiness
14th Dalai Lama
Tibet House, 1 Culworth Street
London NW8 7AF

tibet.com
You can also find out more about how the Chinese are ramping up their genocide "under the radar" while our war on terrorism is gobbling up all the attention.

Also: A local church has started a WGWJC campaign. What Gun Would Jesus Conceal is a not-for-profit-post-nine-eleven-faith-based-self-defense-initiative, partially funded with tax dollars from President Bush's New Program to make the world safer for American Presidents.

Spam: Well spoken and damn straight!!!!

Julie: Because you are a bold woman.

Bobby: Thanks for the applause. Let's go shootin' some time....

Dink: Does Ted Kennedy's car have anything to do with shooting?

How did my last post end up in bold type? I didn't intend for it to be in bold type and can't seem to change it.

Pictures from The Shazam Show

Well, I don't know much about end-time
prophecies, the Rapture, Armageddon, or any of that other apocalyptic bullshit, but I do know one thing that everyone, science-types and lay people alike agree upon. That is that one day, be it ten, ten thousand, or ten million years from now, our sun will expand to engulf our entire solar system, taking all of the planets with it, and then will shrink into itself beco ming cold and black. But it wont just take the planets. Or us. Or our ancestors. It will take Einstein. And Marilyn Monroe. And Aristophanes. And Plato. And Buddy Holly. All the collected art, music, science, and philosophy of God knows how many years. That is why I believe the Columbia astronauts are heroes, and that is why I believe space exploration MUST continue.
Perhaps the meek will indeed inherit the earth.
But only the truly bold will conquer heaven.
RIP Columbia.