The Thundering Product
The Huntington newspaper has a story today about the new rules for viewing the Thundering Herd.
Coach Mark Snyder says about watching The Herd practice:
"We have a lot of work to do and it’s important for our team and coaches to remain focused when we practice.We are working to put a product on the field all of our fans can be proud of and these are times when sometimes we need to limit limit access to our facilities."
Bring On the Product.
Good Lord!
Gary Says Byrd Is The Word Too
Gary Abernathy, a known Republican and formerly Executive Director of the chaotic West Virginia Republican Party sort of agrees with me. Robert C. Byrd can't be beat if he decides to run
In a column on his Web site he says in part
We Republicans can complain all we want about how Byrd's largesse has created an atmosphere of dependency in West Virginia. What West Virginians know is that federal agencies and jobs have come to their state that otherwise would not have come had it not been for Byrd.
The political reality that we must face in West Virginia is that there are very few voters who have not either benefited directly from a Byrd hand-out, or have family members or close friends who have.
Pork buys votes, and if we think we can educate people to vote otherwise, no matter how correct our position, we are more foolish than the audience we are targeting.
As for his membership in the KKK, he points out that everyone who has ever voted for Byrd in West Virginia has probably known of his affiliation with the KKK. He likens it to Bush's brush with alcoholism 20 years ago. Bush apparently got over that but Republicans don't thinnk Byrd can get over the KKK.
Anyway, read Abernathy's column. There is much truth in it.
Byrd is the word
The late, great Tip O'Neill once observed that all politics are local. There are those who tell us that people who believe that are naive, perhaps even stupid, and don't see the big picture. They tell us that when it wuits their political goals.
Don't look at what's going on in your neighborhood, they say. Look at what's going on in the world. Well, I do that, but I firmly believe that if we don't take care of what's going on around us, we can't begin to understand or solve world issues.
What does all this have to do with Senator Robert C. Byrd? Everything. In my case, Byrd is THE reason I have a connection to the outside world so I can find out what's happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I have cable modem service from Adelphia, the cable company that went bankrupt because its owner stole millions, if not billions, from the company. I never had really great service from the company when it came to cable modem service. When my cable modem went out and I called the company, I was ALWAYS told it was my fault, that the cabling inside my house was the problem. This was despite the fact that I replaced every inch of it.
Out of frustratioin, I drafted a letter to Adelphia stating that I considered the problem one of lack of regulation. Cable modem serivce goes unregulated by the government, although I believe it should be regulated since it is a vital public service and becoming more vital every day.
I decided to send copies of the letter to my congressman - Nick Joe Rahall - and my two senators - Jay Rockefeller and Senator Byrd - since it contained an endorsement of legislation to bring cable modem service under federal regulation.
I heard nothing from Rahall and Rockefeller.
But guess what? Byrd forwarded the letter in the form of a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, despite the fact the FCC has no authority over Adelphia's cable modem service.
But that didn't matter. The fact Byrd was on the case was enough. In less than a week, I got a phone call from Adelphia's general counsel for the Eastern Region telling me to hold on, help was on the way. A few days later, I received a call from Adelphia's chief engineeer based in Huntington telling me that the problem would be corrected. Then he gave me his private cell phone number!
A few days later, three cable guys showed up at my house to fix the problem by doing what should have been done three years previously. They re-wired the modem with a new connection to their outside lines.
A couple of weeks later, the modem went down, but so did a few hundred others connected to Adelphia in the area. An automobile accident cause the outage. Ten minutes after it came back, I received a call from Adelphia asking me if my cable servie had been restored.
And some of you jokers want me to vote against Byrd because he was briefly a member of the KKK 60 years ago.
Byrd got my cable modem problem fixed when no one else could. And you want me to forget that?
No way.
The Egyptian Mafia is heard from
I get a lot of e-mails with permutations of the
Nigerian Scam. Here's the best one I have EVER received.
hey i am one of biggest boss in egyptian mafia . i am hacker from egypt , i hackingbanks and get information of people .i can make millions of dollar but need good client and asistant in usa . i needyour help not in have but i need your help like american citizen and we will make many money together by transfermoney into his bank account and we will split money 50/50 but if you don't accept this so forget about and delete this e-mailif u accept add me No thanks.
More About the Octopus Party
My Daily Mail column about the Octopus Party is not something the two parties in West Virginia are going to cheer about. The reason? Politicians think they run things. They don't. They never have and never will.
One of the basic tenets of power I learned in Dr. Simon Perry's class at Marshall University entitled "Power in American Society" is that elected politicians rarely have any real power and certainly no lasting power. The reason is simple: Their power is dependent on elections and unless they can guarantee the power weilders that they can last forever (Robert C. Byrd comes to mind), the people who hold the power will never consult with them about where public policy should go.
Elected officials come and go. Their power is fleeting. Power weilders are forever.
The real power people in West Virginia hold allegience to no political party(Buck Harless gives to people in both political parties.) History indicates they really aren't interested in improving the lot of the average West Virginia. They do not believe that a rising tide lifts all boats. They are out for themselves and the only way you can make it in this rarefied atmosphere is to do their bidding. Thus, if you want to remain in office and be a mover and a shaker, you do what they want you to do or at least you leave them alone to pursue their personal goals. Cross them and you're out.
It might be said that a politician who starts believing he has real power is dead in the water. Jerry Mezzatesta comes to mind. They tossed him to the wolves. It was a hard lesson for him to learn.
So, if you must blame the state's misfortunes on someone, blame them on the people who populate the undefined Octopus Party who set the agenda and make sure the elected officials follow through.
But be careful if you play the blame game seriously. They might getcha.
Clay County Update
Bob Weaver, editor extraordinaire of
The Hur Herald, tells me that he has obtained the tapes of the entire three-hour meeting of the Clay County Commission at which the commission declined to remove the Ten Commandments from the courthouse and, later this week, he will post a story on The Hur Hur Herald containig more on the amazing meeting.
I can't wait.
It's time for Stephanie Rove - er - Karl Timmermeyer to go
The Charleston Gazette-Mail and Ken Ward Jr. have found the smoking gun in the case of the Marsh Fork Elementary coal silos. It's crystal clear from the story that the people of Marsh Fork were correct and the state Department of Environmental Protection relied to much on the maps provided by a coal company when it came to permitting two coal silos so close to the elementary school.
DEP people are claming it was an honest mistake. In the real world, honest mistakes can get you fired. I am an example of that, but what I did didn't endanger kids or anyone else for that matter.
It's time for Stephanie Timmermeyer, the DEP director, to go. She has treated the people of Marsh Fork shabbily. Most people in the coalfields who want justice are treated shabbily by government. It's a long-standing tradition in the mountains. But the fact remains that as long as the're treated that way, we all stand a good chance of being treated that way.
It's clear that in Timmermeyer's mind coal comapnies are good and coalfield people are dumb hillbilies who don't know what they're talking about. That attitude is a big part of the reason the southern coalfields are in the shape they're in.
The governor may not be able to solve all the problems that have been created in the southern coal patch. But he can send a strong message to everyone that official mandacity won't be tolerated in his administration.
Timmermeyer must go.
The high sheriff of Clay County
I'm still perplexed by the Clay County sheriff. Consider this from the story about a Clay County Commission hearing on posting the Ten Commandments.
Sheriff Randy Holcomb received a standing ovation when he told the audience that man-made laws are secondary to God's laws, indicating he will not follow constitutional rulings - "I don't have to go by man-made law."I hate to be such so picky, but I suspect the high sheriff took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of West Virginia. Now he tells us he doesn't "have to go by man-made law. "
Pardon me, but isn't that a violation of his oath of office? And if so, should he not be removed, no matter how many people stand and applaud his statement?
Have We Seen the Future in Clay County?
Bob Weaver of Calhoun County's
"Hur Herald" attended the Clay County Commission's hearing on whether to remove The 10 Commandments from the courthouse.
Here is his report:
CLAY COMMISSION LEAVES TEN COMMANDMENTS POSTED - Over 200 Declare County "Nation Under God"
(07/14/2005)
By Bob Weaver Clay County's three county commissioners voted unanimously before an audience of over 200 yesterday to leave a plaque of the Ten Commandments on the wall of their chambers, declaring Clay a "nation under God."
Commissioner Jimmy Sams told the audience the Commandments will stay in place, where they have hung for six years.
A member of Clay's Library Board, Jacob Nichols, defended the religious symbol, saying "The reason we don't want other religions is because they are false." He said Jews and Buddhists shouldn't have the same constitutional rights as "the one true religion."
The overcrowded meeting had to be moved from the court house to the local high school auditorium. It lasted three hours.
"There is no such thing as a Christian Muslim. There is no such thing as a Christian Buddhist. A Christian is a person who has their faith in Jesus Christ," proclaimed a Clay minister.
Sheriff Randy Holcomb received a standing ovation when he told the audience that man-made laws are secondary to God's laws, indicating he will not follow constitutional rulings - "I don't have to go by man-made law."
While hands were held upward with praise and hymns were sung, the single speaker for separation of church and state, Jesse Sizemore, said constitutional law must be followed, otherwise the law becomes meaningless and open to interpretation by many different religions and groups.
This standard is what has allowed America to flourish, respecting many different religions and beliefs, he said.
Hecklers disrupted Sizemore several times during his alloted five minutes, while he was saying this county should not have a "state religion."
Several speakers, including local ministers, called the American Civil Liberties Union an "arm of Satan."
The ACLU is familiar to Clay countians, bringing a suit after an elementary school principal was having altar calls during school assemblies.
The ACLU has been threatening to go to court against Clay officials for violating rulings related to separation of church and state.
Rev. Jimmy Duffield said "That UCLA is the cause of the problem," apparently referring to the ACLU.
Andrew Schneider, executive director of the West Virginia chapter, says there's no question the display is illegal but says litigation is always a last resort.
The US Supreme Court has handed down split rulings on the legality of displaying the Ten Commandments at public buildings. At issue is whether there is a religious or historical purpose behind each display.
If the neo-cons in this state were really intersted in truth instead of retribution and spite, they'd consult with their peers in Clay County, the home of more murder and mayhem than perhaps any other place in this state, and tell them to "cool it."
After all, according to Weaver, the Clay County sheriff says that we don't need to live by man's laws. And a preacher says the "UCLA" is the enemy.
Perhaps are we are seeing what this country is going to become if the neo-cons have their way.
Thanks to Bob Weaver for reporting this meeting.
West Virginia has an official Sock Monkey and it has a new blog
here. He says he's on a mission fromk God to get the Sock Monkey declared the official West Virginia state animal.
Good luck, Mr. Monkey.
Democracy perfected?
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
A Message to those in 2200
As environmentalists
storm the bastions of Massey Energy in Richmond today, my thoughts turn to Thomas Jefferson, a genius in many respects but a man trapped by economic cirsumstances.
As a young man, Jefferson argued for the abolition of slavery, but he held slaves until he died. I have a theory about why this anomoly. He could not solve the economics of slavery. Slaves were needed on the farms of the south. In those days before the inhdustrial revolution, and end to slavery would have meant an end to agrarian capitalism.
In fact, the Industrial Revolution ended slavery as much as the Civil War.
So it is with mountaintop removal. Two hundred years from now, our descendants will wonder why we allowed our mountains to be destroyed in order to get the coal that lies beneath the ridgetops. Even after 200 years, it will probably be another 300 years before the deciduous forests will be restored on that raped land. And while our descendants will marvel at our ingenity on some fronts, they will sadly shake their heads at what we did to the land.
Jefferson was a slave to slavery and, sadly, we have become a slave to coal and cheap eneergy. We can't figure out a way to keep this state marginally solvent and end mountaintop removal mining.
When Tom Jefferson held parties for his friends at Montecello, the slaves were invisible. They worked in the kitchens and in the basement under the house. The dumb waiter that Jefferson invented kept them out of sight and out of mind. The food magically appeared and the dishes magically disappeared. Not so with mountaintop removal and the by-products that stain our mountains.
If, by some miracle, this tome survives for 200 years, let me tell those who read it that I am truly sorry for what we did. We weren't as smart as we thought we were and we didn't try hard enough to do what's right.
Some of us knew what was going down, but not enough of us. Let's hope you guys in 2300 are wiser.
Garner Gone Wild
Sometimes, you gotta just laugh and say "What the hell are people thinking"?
Is it tonight that they're giving thrice-married Jennifer Garner a baby shower at the People's Baseball Park in Charleston?
Well, at least she's married. Barely. She and Ben A Flack, the apparent father, got married a few days ago. But she's several months pregnant.
As my daddy used to say "That first one can come anytime. After that, it takes nine months."
I haven't heard anyone say this out-of-wedlock pregnancy is immoral. But what the girls at Banana Joe's are doing tonight for the "Girls Gone Wild" TV cameras is immoral, disgusting and God-knows-what-else, according to several people with obvious bugs up their butts who pontificated for The Daily Mail today.
What is it with this Garner woman? I'm not tied into the caste system in Charleston. Is she some kind of blue blood or what? Can she do no wrong? Is it impossible for her to go wild? Apparently.
I do not condemn Garner. Neither do I condemn the girls gone wild who'll be doing things for the camera tonight at Banana Joe's.
And those who do need to get a life!
FLASH!!!!!!!!!!!
President Bush shakes hands with Arch Moore in Morgantown.
So many felons. So little time.
The Ultimate Parochialism?
West Virginia Media Holdings stations in West Virginia feature Chris Stirewalt promoting a piece he is doing on how communities in West Virginia can protect themselves agains "big city drug dealers."
To hear him tell it, these dealers from the big cities are at the heart of the drug problem and if we could somehow keep them out of West Virginia, we'd be OK.
Horse hockey!!!
They are here because West Virginians are the consumers of the drugs. No one forced anyone to use them.
I would remind Chris and everyone else that most of the meth is made in West Virginia and has no connection with "outsiders."
To solve the drug problem requires more than building a wall around West Virginia to keep dealers out. It requires working on the heart of the problem which is 100 percent a problem of addicts.
Toyota Snubs the U.S. in locating a plant in Canada
The Japanese are building a huge new Toyota Rav-4 production plant in Canada. Why Canada?
Read it for yourself.First and foremost, Canadians have better basic educations than folks in the southeastern states, and, no doubt, West Virginia. It's difficult to train illiterates the Toyota folks say. And we have too many of them.
But, the story continues, the cost of labor is less in Canada because of the national health care in that country. Because of it, Toyota can pay $4 to $5 less an hour because the company doesn't need to pay for health care.
The the neo-cons say that national health care is BAD BAD BAD.
Who would have thought that national health care is part and parcel of economic development?
Keep it up right-wingers. You guys know everything. We are soooo privileged to be able to tap into your superior intellects.
Karl Rove : He's the man!!!
Read about it hereThen remember who he is and why it's likely he will be lionized by the neo-cons.
Rainbow People
Last Thursday, my son and I took a trip to Pocahontas County to see the gathering of the Rainbow People. You can read about the trip in the
Daily Mail on Monday.
Here are some more I took of the gathering on that day.
More Rainbow People
Last Thursday, my son and I took a trip to Pocahontas County to see the gathering of the Rainbow People. You can read about the trip in the
Daily Mail on Monday.
Here are some more I took of the gathering on that day.
