Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
Oh, hello Dr. Kosorkian.
NYPost login/pswd: nypost1@dodgeit.com/password
It's been a long struggle for equality, but the very first woman has gone postal.
Steppin' Out magazine editor Chaunce Hayden has reportedly been receiving death threats for criticizing satellite radio shock jock Howard Stern.
...
Enraged fans started posting threatening messages on the Stern Fan Network after Stern slammed Hayden on his show, The Daily News said.
"We're not trying to stifle anybody's free speech, but it's against the law to threaten a man's life or threaten him with bodily harm," a Bergen County detective told the Daily News. "It's serious, and it's not something that can be tolerated."
That's the friendliest reminder I've ever seen that death threats are against the law. It wouldn't look out of place for the detective to have prefaced his remark with "Geewillikers."
Bet it'll still piss Jeff Jarvis off, though.
I'm trying to add colored, cursive text to a pic, but my image editor, Irfanview, only lets me pick from a selection of colors instead of letting me insert a number for my own color preference.
Do any of you know of an editor that will allow me to do that without having to pay $30 for it?
I am uzeng al my time and brane powar on this problim.
Oh, nice, a Lynyrd Skynyrd vid. This one's running smoothly (for me), but in general, this site has a lot of bandwidth problems.
There are a lot of strange videos in there, including one of Cream singing on the Glen Campbell show. That's not odd in itself, but that some stage manager said "What this performance really needs is a plateful of talking frogs" is.
The results of a Canadian study show men find women with a sense of humor to be ooky; possibly cootified.
$50,000 per string? Money Central has a fascinating and funny article on rare guitar collecting:
[Super-collector Mac] Yasuda started singing and playing country music when he was a teenager in Kobe, Japan. When his hero Hank Snow performed there in 1967, Yasuda and his band-mates got to meet the singer backstage. "A Japanese company had just started making steel-string guitars, and we brought ours to show off. Hank was playing a beat up 1934 Martin D-28, so I asked him, 'Hey, Hank, you're such a rich and famous guy. Why won't you buy a brand new guitar like this?' He just kept laughing over that, and his band did too," he recalls.
Three years later, and somewhat more informed about the virtues of vintage guitars, Yasuda came to Michigan Tech on a scholarship. Sent to a conference in Nashville, he skipped out to prowl Music Row instead. At George Gruhn's guitar shop, he saw a beautiful old Gibson J-200 acoustic for $450, and he only had $25 to his name. It was a Scarlett-O'Hara-clutches-the-turnip moment for Yasuda. "I stood there looking at that guitar and swore, 'Someday I will own all the J-200s!'"
I don't know if any of you have read about Yasuda's collection. Just pics of tiny portions of his collection have been known to dehydrate viewers from excessive drooling.
The leopard's got to go.
Here's someone who looks like he was also bitten by the Les Paul-collecting bug:
Feeling blue? Go over to Greg Gutfeld's Roe v. Wade joke page for some snorts and chuckles. Then pick up your complimentary copy of "Child-Free" magazine.
As always when at Greg's, read the comments. They're part of the whole GG experience.
Perhaps someone can explain to me what is up with bikers these days.
When I was a kid, the big one here was the Florida Outlaws motorcycle gang. They were goons, and up to their eyeballs in crime. Of course there were also the Hell's Angels out west, also not nice guys. Now everytime I see a guy in a motorcycle jacket, he's doing something good and noble. It's a nice shift in my perceptions, but still a bit puzzling. Is it just that the clubs as opposed to the gangs are more visible these days?
A lady hands out black ribbons at the funeral of Aracoma Alma miner Don Bragg.
Street of Pain: if you haven't watched this short video yet, check it out.
This legendary and highly influential guitarist had a penchant for drinking and riding motorcyles - sometimes at the same time. Two other famed guitarists each named a child in his honor.
**
Congrats to Mike for guessing Merle Travis. In one hint. Damn.
**
Kentucky's Merle Travis, born 1917, was the son of a coal miner who had a habit of coming home from the mine and saying, "Another day older and deeper in debt." If you know that line, tip your hat to the long-suffering Rob Travis.
At age 12, on a homemade guitar, Merle began learning a three-finger style of guitar playing unique to Muhlenberg County. This later became the basis for "the Travis style" of picking.
Young Merle had a very good teacher in the form of Ike Everly, who later on had two boys of his own: Phil and Don, the Everly Brothers.
Merle got very good, very fast. A visit to his brother in Indiana jumpstarted his career when he joined some bands there and ended up on the radio. Several bands later, he had a national following for his records and guitar acolytes for his style, his chief disciple being Chet Atkins. Merle had half a dozen top-ten tunes himself, but it seems the songs he wrote for other people became the real smash hits. One of the first songs he recorded was one he wrote for his father, "Sixteen Tons." It became a multi-million seller crossover hit for Tennessee Ernie Ford. His "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)" was a million-seller for Tex Williams, going to number one on the pop charts.
Merle designed the first solid body-electric guitar with all the keys on one side, the model of which was later perfected by his friend Leo Fender. It became a key element in Rock and Roll. The Travis-designed guitar is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Merle can also be seen (and heard) in the move From Here to Eternity playing the song "Re-enlistment Blues." In addition to this role, he acted in some 36 Westerns.
Although having the reputation of being an innovator, a trailblazer, and the top electric guitarist in Country music, his wild drunkeness became a hindrance to his musical output and success. At one point he was hospitalized for the abuse of narcotics.
He later got it together and recorded influential albums such as "Walkin' the Strings," and the Grammy-winning collaboration with Chet Atkins "The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show". He wrote many magazine articles about his life in music and penned a book on his style entitled "The Merle Travis Guitar Style." His 1981 album "Travis Pickin'" was nominated for a Grammy, and it was while enjoying his resurgence that he died of a heart attack at age 62. His ashes are buried under a monument to him in Ebeneezer, Kentucky, near the coal mine where his father worked.
Merle Travis is in the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Gibson Guitar Hall of Fame.
Doc Watson named his son in Merle's honor and Chet Atkins did the same with his daughter.
***
Previous postings:
Homefires: Southern Music XII
Homefires: Southern Music XI
Homefires: Southern Music X
Homefires: Southern Music IX
Homefires: Southern Music VIII
Homefires: Southern Music VII
Homefires: Southern Music VI
Homefires: Southern Music V
Homefires: Southern Music IV
Homefires: Southern Music III
Homefires: Southern Music II
Homefires: Southern Music
Lilly shows us her Sears Action Pose.
What is Shiloh so happy about? Nothing. And everything.
"You can get a lot done if you're not bitterly partisan."
-Virginia Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine
Gutless sellout!
Not content to be DOA in Florida, the Democratic party's most liberal members continue to try to talk it into a nationwide suicide pact.
Aww, this is such nice news:
With a little help, [Randal McCloy] the sole survivor of the Sago Mine disaster stood for the first time since the accident, and puckered his lips when his wife asked for a kiss, doctors said Friday.
...
"There is definitely a better connection with her than anybody else," [Dr. Russell] Biundo said. "What we all want is a connection so that when I say, `Lift one finger,' he does it. Boom, then we have a party."
Yes, indeed. Every little bit forward for this guy is something to be happy about.
UPDATE:
As far as I can tell, the commands he's been able to respond to so far were mainly given by his wife, so he's on a pretty narrow frequency right now.
Also, regarding that National Enquirer photo I wrote about earlier:
Also on Friday, lawyers for the McCloys sued The National Enquirer and the supermarket tabloid’s parent, America Media Inc., to block them from republishing a photograph of the injured miner in his hospital bed.
The complaint contends the tabloid paid Randal McCloy’s brother, Matthew, $800 to take the photo, and claims it was an invasion of privacy because the miner was in a coma and could not consent, The Exponent Telegram of Clarksburg reported.
The suit seeks at least $75,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
The tabloid has no plans to republish the photo, its lawyer, Jay S. Bowen, said in a letter.
I read this wrong at first. This suit is about not REpublishing the photos. It would have been good if they could have gotten in there with the lawyers before the first publishing, but with Randal's situation, I can imagine they were quite busy.
"God hates those who threaten His messengers with bloody violence and death for preaching God's word to them. Ergo God hates West Virginia."
Westborons are off to picket the funerals of the two Aracoma miners killed in the fire.
Has Captain Shrubya ChimpeachlerHalliburtonAhab struck again? Liberal Larry seems to think so:
Millions of whales die every year on Bush’s watch. Millions more while he’s not watching. Certainly, some of these deaths are from purely natural causes. Others are from mysterious self-beachings, perhaps done in protest of Bush’s reckless environmental policies - or simply to exercise their Constitutional right to die with dignity. But make no mistake, Bush is as responsible for that poor whale’s untimely demise as he would be if he paddled out there in a canoe and whacked it with an oar.
Tracie Dean is one of the most alert and persistent women I've ever heard of.
After traveling through Evergreen, Alabama, she acted on a hunch that a little girl she saw for a few minutes in a convenience store there was being sexually abused. She took down the license plate of the car the three-year-old girl got into and spent four days making telephone calls to authorities. She even drove back to Evergreen from Atlanta to review the store's security video.
While watching the store's tape, a deputy came in. He believed her instincts and agreed to investigate.
The combination of intuition and persistence was much needed, as it turned out the man in the store with the girl is a convicted sex offender. Jack Wiley and his girlfriend Glenna Faye Cavender, the girl's mother, are now behind bars with bonds set at $3 million and $2 million respectively. The mother has confessed.
"It was just in my heart," Dean said. "It was a God thing. I just knew. I felt it with my heart."
Dean said the young girl is still on her mind. "There is no happy ending to this story," she said. "A 3-year-old girl getting raped does not have a happy ending. It may be a better ending, but not a happy ending."
Dean is the general manager of the Jim Ellis Audi dealer in Atlanta. She spends her life selling. She was having trouble selling this one, but she finally did it. She sold someone on her gut feeling about this little girl.
"In sales, you have to meet eight 'No's' to meet a 'Yes,'" Dean said.
She got her "Yes." And now, she hopes, the little girl will have a chance at life.
I read an article in the paper once about a man who came out of a store and saw another man putting a kid in a truck. The thought flashed through his mind "This isn't right." He started running towards the truck, and hollered to the child "Do you know that man?" The boy shook his head no. The man in the truck pushed the kid out of the truck and tore off.
Then the boy's mother came out of the store. It had been an abduction.
The man who'd interrupted it said that if he never did anything else, he knew for sure he'd done one worthwhile thing in his life.
Tracie Dean will know that too.
Ace links a story about a seemingly pain-in-the-ass librarian in Massachusetts who wouldn't let the FBI take computer records without a search warrant.
The only problem is, 48 states, Massachusetts being one of them, have library confidentiality laws on the books.
Even I have had occasion to tell the FBI they had to have a search warrant. Am I a terrorist-loving lefty moonbat? No, I'm a librarian who follows the laws of the State of Florida. Especially the one that says I'll be the one commiting the crime if I turn over records without a proper judicial order.
Which is the bottom line as far as I'm concerned.
The FBI were very pleasant, by the way; as was I. One of them smiled, sighed and said, "I knew you'd say that." I apologized for the inconvenience, but they certainly knew the deal before they came in.
If the public finds this objectionable, they should entreat their legislators to change the confidentiality laws.
I'm all about librarians not being prosecuted for stuff.
As to Ace's charge that librarians get sexually aroused from the Dewey Decimal System: it's true. Just ask the Lipstick Librarian.
Those left in that family must feel like Job at this point:
Family and friends gathered Thursday at the home of seven adopted children who were killed when their car was crushed between a truck and a stopped school bus and burst into flames.
The grief apparently was too much for a grandfather of the children, the victims' mother, Barbara Mann, told CNN.
William Scott, 62, ``had a massive heart attack tonight over all this'' and died, Mann, told CNN. ``I can't deal with it.''
I'll take this as confirmation that it's not such a big deal that Brad and Jen broke up. Remember the Manns in your prayers.
Tim Blair has the round-up of Palestinian election news.
Build that security wall a little higher, Israel.
You might want to save this one for the evening. Evidently leaving drunken cell-phone messages is quite the rage among the drunken cell-phone message-leaving crowd.
I had a drink once. I didn't have a chance to leave anyone a drunken message as a.) I was immediately asleep and b.) message-leaving technology had yet to be invented.
This Public Service Announcement is brought to you from INDC Bill in the hope of saving other unwary gentlemen from tumbling into the Slough of Despond.
Let us all applaud Bill's courage in coming forward.
While you're over there, give him a congrats for his four-millionth satisfied visitor.
(Via Amy.)
The impoverished Hollywood firefighters are back in the news. In the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma a uniformed, on-duty group of them went to a site distributing emergency food stamps, walked to the front of the line, and got themselves some charity on toast.
Their actions perturbed a lot of people, and local civic groups aren't going to let it go. According to the Sun-Sentinel, the lowest-paid firefighter involved, Anthony Cioppa, is pulling down $70,000; the highest, Captain Raymond Powers, $100,000. Driver-Engineer William Gutierrez earns $77,000. These figures don't include overtime.
To his credit, Anthony Cioppa now says he's embarrassed and has offered an apology to the community.
A little less brazen next time, guys.
Regarding armed incursions across our border, one of which occured yesterday:
Mr. Chertoff also said a significant number of 216 confirmed incursions since 1996 were "innocent," noting that police and military units in Mexico pursuing criminals "may step across the border because they do not know exactly where the line is."
Law-enforcement officials yesterday noted that the Texas-Mexico border is clearly marked by the Rio Grande.
Chris Penn has passed away at age 43.
Who shot Nice Guy Eddie? Nobody.
I'm always looking for a pic of the notorious leather jacket that is said to have a front panel that looks like a theater facade in, say Ponca City, Oklahoma. This doesn't look to be it.
While I've seen many black and white pics of this concert, this magazine cover is the only one I've seen in color.
The blue panel matches his blue shirt and looks very stylish.
Wail on, Skydog!
Trambo was kind enough to send the video of "Statesboro Blues" that cuts back and forth between the original and a later version of the Allman Brothers Band performing the song. It's very cool.
I've uploaded it and will leave it up for today.
UPDATE
Trambo has uploaded the videos for Statesboro; Dreams, Liz Reed, and Whipping Post from the Fillmore; and Love Valley for your viewing pleasure. Thank you kindly, Trambo.
Like Microsoft before them, Google's ready to do their bit to censor information in China.
Ironically, "Don't be evil" is one of their corporate mottos.
UPDATE:
Someone with a Sunnyvale IP is attempting a little damage control, visiting blogs with negative posts about Google's China decision and leaving a script in the comments. I don't know why anyone would bother.
Wuzzadem, corroborating the field research of pioneering blogologist With Cheese, notes the Instabird building a nest from the twigs of the Laurus nobilis cogitatium Austin.
You give marksmanship a bad name.
It's time to head back to the firing range when you're shooting to kill, and only manage to hit your target in the 'nads:
Police said that under the circumstances, the officer was shooting to kill because he believed that the man was reaching for a weapon, so they said the man was actually lucky to only have been wounded.
It's center mass, officer, not center vas.
There's nothing more pleasant than dining al fresco, and these hunting-clad, burger-munching students at Florida Gulf Coast University in Lee County have found an ideal spot for it: in front of the traveling People Eating Tasty Animals exhibit. Bon appetit, gentlemen.
Was it really Joe Pesci who gave a student a fat lip out front of the Jamba Juice in Baton Raton? Or is it just the coppers blaming him for every little thing down here, and I mean every little freakin' thing?
Although originally owning to the colorful nickname "The Caloosahatchee Kid," after this unfortunate incident the other outlaws snickered behind his back and called him "Kandy":
Fort Myers police today said a 13-year-old Fort Myers boy shot his 14-year-old friend in the face Sunday over a dispute about change from a candy bar purchase.
According to police reports:
The 14-year-old boy gave the suspect $10 to buy a candy bar. When the suspect gave the boy $9 back, he told him he wanted the rest of the change back, which was approximately 25 cents.
A 21-year-old woman who was driving the pair, took the supspect to his house. The suspect went inside and came back out with a pistol and shot the victim in the cheek.
Kandy later went on to be killed by a vengeful dog he'd shot in the paw.
I can't believe the news today:
A woman filed a lawsuit claiming that a hot fudge sundae she bought for her 12-year-old son was contaminated with human blood, but the owner of a fast-food franchise says the red substance was really just strawberry syrup.
Answering the claim that the restaurant manager had agreed with the lady that there was indeed blood on the sundae, the restaurant owner said, "What is he, a botanist?"
Did the blind pig find an acorn at last?
When I was in Saudi we watched an amazing transformation every week. A water truck bearing the words "Nonpotable Water" would hook up to our metal buffalo that bore the words "Potable Water." Somewhere in the plastic hose in between them the purification would take place. We only used that water to wash our clothes with, so it didn't matter to us.
I don't know what kind of set-up this camp in Iraq has -if their water is piped in or not, but the folks there probably wouldn't have had too much use for poop water.
So says Tyler Bridges of the Miami Herald in his article "From Guerrillas to Politicians":
And Brazilian Congressman Fernando Gabeira was part of a group that kidnapped U.S. Ambassador Charles Elbrick in 1969 to protest U.S.-backed military rule. The group released Elbrick four days later in exchange for the freedom of 15 political prisoners, one of whom was Dirceu, who went on to become Lula's chief advisor before resigning last year amid a corruption scandal.
Gabeira has since repented for the kidnapping, but that wasn't good enough for the United States, which has denied his visa requests.
Did he do Hail Marys, wear sackcloth and ashes, make restitution to his victim, sacrifice a sheep? More specifics, please. Why didn't the Lord U.S. look down and forgive this man whose heart was so chastened and contrite?
When the Brazilians who kidnapped Swiss Ambassador Giovanni Enrica Bucher and German Ambassador Ehrenfried von Hollebennel become politicians, we'll see how those governments feel about issuing the former kidnappers visas.
I've been unrestrainedly lashing out on a personal level all week-end, now I've decided to share. Feel free to add your own lashings - or don't, and treat me with the silent scorn I deserve.
*Blogs with no comment features: Go be a newspaper, guys. Oh, wait, even newspapers print letters to the editor.
*Roseanne Cash bitching about crying people coming up to her to say how much her father meant to them. She's 50 years old and hasn't learned the correct response is "Thank you."
*Famed columnist Carl Hiaasen pens an editorial about the Ft. Lauderdale homeless beatings that adds absolutely nothing to what's already been written expect for one small bit saying that Thomas Daugherty once shared a bag of potato chips with Norris Gaynor, the man he killed. Hiaasen gets the big bucks to put things into perspective for the public, so what's his summing-up? "It was entertainment." That's what I'd call slapping someone in the face with the coldcuts of the obvious.
*Everybody watch and ENJOY that Go-Go's video I put up because I just spent several hours running Norton and Ad-Aware again and again to clean up all the crud I picked up on my foray to Kazaa to get it. All that so YOU could partake of 2.39 minutes of exuberant happiness.
Why is Lucianne linking to the Northeast Intelligence Network in its "must read" section? Spread the linky love, Lucianne; maybe some of the people here blog and have insightful commentary to offer as well.
The Lee County Cell Dogs program that I posted about a while back has really been a grand success. The city of Nashville has already adopted the program, and the Sheriff's Office is getting calls about it from all over the world.
One of the former handlers, an inmate who was serving time for DUI, created a website for the program when he got out. Be sure to check out the great pics.
Hugo Chavez has too much time on his hands and no sense of humor:
For firebrand President Hugo Chávez, the white horse on Venezuela's national coat of arms is galloping in the wrong direction -- to the right. So it will soon be changed to gallop in step with his politics -- to the left.
...
Chávez said it was his 7-year-old daughter, Rosinés, who first brought to his attention that the horse was galloping to the right but looking to the left. 'Rosinés said, `Daddy, why does that horse look backward?' '' Chávez said Nov. 20 on his Sunday radio and TV show, Hello President.
...
A few days later humorist Laureano Márquez poked fun at the president's comments in a newspaper column titled ''Dear Rosinés'' suggesting that a more appropriate symbol might be ``a golden retriever with a stick in its mouth, sitting at its master's feet.''
Chávez was not amused. Without mentioning Márquez by name, he later alleged that the opposition media ''don't even respect children'' and called them ``beasts that swarm in the sewers.''
Two weeks later, the government's Council for the Protection of Children and Adolescents announced it was taking action against the newspaper, TalCual, for violating Rosinés' reputation and privacy.
It ordered the paper to remove the article from its website, and could impose a fine and even order a temporary closure.
While some people might consider what was done to TalCual as censoring the press and attacking freedom of speech, I'll wait for Harry Belafonte to put it into perspective for me because he knows all about rights being suspended.
Surviving miner Randal McCloy today ate his first food since the accident: a cracker. When you say your prayers, mention this guy, please. If you've ever had a friend or relative with a brain injury, you know what a hard row this man and his immediate family have to hoe.
Long after you and I have all moved on and forgotten them, they're still going to be dealing with this.
Fatboy Slim and Nordstrom's have teamed up to take iconic videos and turn them into hiphop product placement vehicles.
UPDATE
I've uploaded the original video for a few days. Enjoy the Go-Go's while I've got 'em up there.
They had no Svengali controlling them, wrote their own songs and played their own instruments. They actually were girl power: badgirl power.
Medienkritik has an excellent post (and comments) on the recently executed Roger Keith Coleman. Now that the DNA evidence has come back showing him guilty as sin, will his legions of supporters finally acknowledge that the victim in this drama was the woman he killed?
(Via Ace's Harry Callahan, whose own post is also very interesting.)
The Lucretia Borgia of the Keys has been brought to justice:
Police say Vaber put Visine in the woman's drink on Dec. 8 in a real-estate office at the private Ocean Reef Club in North Key Largo.
The witness who allegedly poured out the poisoned tea told a Monroe County Sheriff's Office detective that Vaber said she was tired of the woman ''sticking her nose into her business'' and said she hoped the woman, who is 73, would get ``sick and die in diarrhea.''
Trying to kill someone by putting Visine in their tea is just lazy. I bet this girl didn't even attempt going to the drugstore to find something more appropriate. She just rummaged around in her handbag until she found something. It probably came down to a choice between Visine or some postage stamps.
I'm trying to think of a Jerry Springer-worthy situation where being involved in it wouldn't already be grounds for having your parental rights revoked.
The Department of Children and Families should probably just set up a booth in the lobby:
A 25-year-old suburban woman has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and has lost custody of her three children after she admitted leaving them home alone so she could go to a taping of "The Jerry Springer Show" in downtown Chicago.
Hi kids! Can you match the city with its dessert metaphor?
1. Detroit, Michigan
2. New Orleans, Louisiana
3. San Francisco, California
4. Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming
5. Window Rock, Arizona
6. Salt Lake City, Utah
7. Watts, California
8. Boca Raton, Florida
9. San Jose, California
10. Miami, Florida
a. Coffee ice-cream
b. Green Jell-O
c. Vanilla pudding
d. Chocolate
e. Chocolate-covered banana
f. Fudge brownie
g. Lattice-crust cherry pie
h. Lemon-meringue pie
i. Chocolate flambe
j. Kugel with nuts
The key is below:
1f, 2d, 3e, 4c, 5g, 6b, 7i, 8j, 9h, 10a.
I'm sorry to hear of Wilson Pickett's passing. His voice and style were unique.
One of his hits, a cover of the Beatles' "Hey Jude," was recorded at the suggestion of Duane Allman. To Pickett's credit, he was willing to follow the advice of some young studio musician he'd never worked with before, and it paid off for him.
Wail on, Wicked Pickett.
In a redefinition of what it means to compete and be "the best," the International Olympic Commitee has announced that not only will there no longer be gold, silver, or bronze medals awarded, but in fact, there will no longer be first, second, or third places.
Said Olympic spokeswoman Connie Boyle, "Some of the athletes are separated by a fraction, fraction of a percentage point, fraction of a thousandth percentage point. How fair is that?"
This Viking helmet store has disclaimers up all over the place about horns on the helmet not being "historically accurate."
I'd like to know who in their right mind would buy a Viking helmet without the horns?
That's just nuts.
The responses on the Times-Picayune blog regarding Mayor Nagin's "chocolate city" comments seem remarkably in his favor. As one commenter notes "Although Nagin's comments might have been misguided, they were not racist. Racism is prejudice plus power, which is not possible in a city where the power still rests mostly with white men."
So even though Mayor Nagin is the most powerful man in the city... ehh... uhm... oh, skip it.
Today we're taking a virtual field trip to Endeavour Elementary School. Nine months after one of their teachers, Daniel Cliatt, was charged with 162 counts of sexual assault on school boys, he still has a homepage there.
The 362-lb elementary school teacher was busted when another teacher walked into Cliatt's classroom and found him in the process of assaulting one of his male students.
On his 'About Me' page, Mr. Cliatt says, "It is my goal to tap into the potential that every child has within them"; which would have been a noble pursuit, if by "potential" he hadn't meant "colon."
UPDATE:
Reader Frank wrote the school's principal, and the site's now been taken down.
Global warming is causing an alarming increase in cemetery visitors being sucked into graves.
Grave soil in the United States, affected by ozone-depletion and changing weather patterns, has collapsed when trod upon twice this week alone. These incidents occured on both the east and west coasts, demonstrating how far-flung the carbon-emissions problem has become since President Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol.
Duane at the Whiskey, Feb. '71.
Wail on, Skydog!
UPDATE:
Blogger reoriented by the Power of Duane.
*Pic will not be visible if behind firewall.
I watched Gus Van Zant's "Last Days" tonight. After I woke from my coma, I watched this as part of my rehabilitation.
Kidnapped journalist Jill Carroll's Jordanian fan club has an odd way of expressing their support:
Carroll's former employers The Jordan Times published a Sunday editorial, stating: "The kidnappers who abducted her could not have chosen a more wrong target. True, Jill is a US citizen. But she is also more critical of US policies towards the Middle East than many Arabs… Jill has been from day one opposed to the war, to the invasion and occupation of Iraq."
Were the 240 civilians from dozens of nations who have been kidnapped so far the right targets? What about the numerous Iraqi civilians snatched off the street? I'm asking this for informational purposes as I'm curious as to what traits a civilian must have to make for an ideal match with a terrorist-kidnapper.
My post about non-existent toxic vapors and mass hysteria elicited a comment from Chris that I should have a look at his hometown of Mattoon, Illinois. It proved to be a treasure trove of silliness with a tale of a "mad gasser" who targeted this little town in the 1940's for fiendishly foul acts of vaporious intruseration.
It's a good read for all you little Fortean Crackers out there.
At the bottom of this page is a video montage with three clips of a young Alice Cooper putting on some great shows. It's short but awesome.
The site's pretty neat. You pick the footage you want, and he'll compile the DVD for you. The listing for the footage of the old Alice shows has me sorely tempted. I want all of it.
I'll definitely get the newly released DVD of their 1973 tour, as that was the first concert I ever went to, and it is seared -- seared -- in my memory. My favorite review? "If Charles Manson killed the hippie's "Summer Of Love", Alice Cooper mocked and humped the corpse." Yes, indeed. Lots of fun and nobody asking me to smile on my brother.
Speaking of brothers, on the Allman Brothers board, word is out from Kirk West that there's a whole lot of new Duane Allman video that's going to be coming out soon. It's about time. I hate to grouse, but there's been rumors of other footage besides "Filmore" and "Love Valley" for decades. Everybody wondered what all goodies were stashed away. I'm shivering with anticipation.
Today Thomas Daugherty made a bid for an ankle-braceleted house arrest, but the judge was having none of it.
Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo has penned a letter to Daugherty and Hooks beginning "Dear Savages." He flounders between laughing at their future incarceration (Florida Cracker: check!) and wondering if they didn't get enough love in the womb. He leaves off the question of whether these kids were ever taught "Do unto others." In this post-Christian age, it might not even have occured to him.
Thomas Daugherty cowering as he's beaten with his own baseball bat?
Nah, he's just embarrassed about being in court. And he's a little camera-shy anymore.
UPDATE
They've arrested a third kid in the attacks, William Ammons.
UPDATE II
After his arrest in one attack, Ammons bonded out. A few hours later, he was re-arrested for a different attack. It appears he shot Norris Gaynor with a paintball gun while he was being murdered. A bad day for young Mr. Ammons.
**
Previous postings:
Homeless Attackers Identified, Warrants Issued
Some Homeless Are More Equal Than Others
A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence In Ft. Lauderdale
Some UN Security Council powers met on Iran today. There's a hope that just trying to have the Security Council not talk about Iran could be enough to bring Ahmadinejad to his senses:
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw suggested Iran could rethink its course merely by being put in Security Council hands and that sanctions, which are unpalatable to many industrialized states that import Iranian oil, might not prove necessary.
"The fact that Iran is so concerned not to see the matter referred ... I think underlines the strength of the authority of that body," Straw said at a London conference on terrorism.
Russia and China - especially China-- don't seem to want to do much about this at all.
AP's reporting it too, but with a happier spin. That's OK; I don't mind a positive outlook.
Barry University student Candice Kenmuir got in touch with her creative side and made beautiful designer duds from local hurricane debris:
An evening gown of shellacked seagrape leaves from a destroyed tree.
This dress is made from a shattered fence.
This lovely creation was fashioned from gathered roof tiles.
The work gloves are a nice touch.
Very nice!
I'd put up one of a tanktop made from old Cheeto's bags, but there are already millions of pictures of Britney Spears on the Internet.
Some nice video is out from the memorial service for the Sago miners. I had no idea Homer Hickam was going to speak. That was a lovely thing for him to do:
During the two-hour service a heart-wrenching photo montage showed the men as they were in life _ men who loved their families and God, NASCAR, hunting, fishing and a good laugh.
"There are no better men than coal miners," said author Homer Hickam, who wrote the memoir "Rocket Boys" about growing up in a southern West Virginia coal community. "The American economy rests on the back of our coal miners. We could not prosper without them."
Since the explosion, Hickam said many people have asked him why miners chose such dangerous work, and how they tolerate the fear.
"The people endure here as they always have," he said, "for they understand that God has determined there is no joy greater than hard work. And that there is no water holier than the sweat off a man's brow."
I've not yet heard word if the Westborons showed up, although as of yesterday they'd still planned to, the swine.
UPDATE
Thanks to Rachel for the link to the Patriot Guard Riders board, and a thank you to the PGRs for attending the memorial for the miners and for all the soldiers' funerals attended.
More pics here.
**
Previous postings:
So Many To Hate, So Little Time
There's a big Iran link round-up over at Link Mecca.
Hurry, Israel!
(Via Ace.)
**
Previous postings:
War Against Iran
A Coming Showdown
A museum to the Beat movement has opened in San Francisco, drawing visitors enamored of the Beat values and lifestyle:
Visitors crowded into the Grant Avenue museum on Saturday, discovering, or rediscovering, the groundbreaking free-form style that challenged literary conventions, helped spur the 1960s counterculture movement and influenced artists, musicians and such groups as the hippies.
"This was a generation that cared about something," said Jessica Variz, 24, who traveled 400 miles from Los Angeles to see the museum. "They were my age, traveling across the country, writing on napkins. Nobody does that anymore."
John Donovan and his wife, Mary Jo, stumbled across the museum after lunching at a nearby restaurant. "Kerouac and the others really changed my life, my direction," said John Donovan, 62, of San Mateo, California, as his wife headed for the cash register to buy a copy of Kerouac's "The Scripture of the Golden Eternity."
"He's talking to me here," Mary Jo Donovan, 59, said of a passage in the text that reads: "Nothing was ever born. Nothing will ever die."
Author Caleb Carr, whose childhood home was the hub for Beat writers Ginsberg, Kerouac, and Burroughs has a different perspective on the Beats. Recalling them as "noisy, drunken people," he says:
"It was their life and they should discuss their own philosophy, those that are left. But the one thing that their lifestyle did not factor in was family. They were deliberately setting out to destroy the traditional concept of the family and to deconstruct it and put something else in its place. They never succeeded in that. As a result, for most of them who had children or families, those children and families, almost to a person, had pretty bad experiences.
...
I heard a lot, when I was a kid. I saw a lot of screaming and yelling and venting of emotion that meant nothing. It really was sound and fury signifying nothing. It may signify something on the written page, but in their lives? I don't think there's one of them that you can look at who, in their intimate lives, didn't leave some kind of a path of destruction. And sometimes severe destruction.
So who did this son of the Beats choose as his own role model?
When I was a kid, we lived in a crazy environment. It wasn't one that held any stability for me. In rooting around for something to grab onto, I latched onto the past and people in the past who I felt were strong, actively ethical characters. One of the reasons I was so attracted to Theodore Roosevelt was that this guy was really true to the values he had as a child, and he followed them through when he became an adult. That kind of thing really appealed to me, and that's where I took a lot of my inspiration -- from people like that."
Good choice, Caleb.
I've found that mass hysteria livens up the work day:
A man is in jail on assault charges after authorities say an assistant prosecutor, police officer and courtroom bailiff all got sick after shaking hands with him.
John Ridgeway, 41, was in an Isabella County courthouse in Mount Pleasant last month on a misdemeanor charge of driving without insurance. He now faces three felony assault charges and up to six years in prison.
After a Dec. 21 jury trial where he was found guilty on the misdemeanor charge, Ridgeway was observed pulling out a vial of liquid and rubbing his hands with the contents, officials said.
What was in the vial? Olive oil, he says. Abracadabra.
Don't underestimate the power of suggestion. I know it's amusing when you hear on the news that all the kids in a school lunchroom started puking and fainting because someone said they smelled something, but it happens even when you think you know better. I was irritated once because a patron said she smelled something acrid in the children's room that was making her ill. "Put up the big top," I thought. Calling the police to say somebody smelled something funny means the circus is coming to town. Police cars, fire engines, and a biohazard unit. All for what's probably a false alarm -- but you have to do it for safety's sake.
We were suspicious of the lady who made the complaint. She was pretty bright-eyed when she reported the smell, looked thrilled to death later on by all the hoopla going on, and when it was all over, smiled as she lay in the grass out in front of the library, next to the fire engines, long after all the other patrons had departed.
I was convinced she was full of crap.
I inspected the area and told the head of circulation that I thought the lady was an attention-seeker. He agreed she'd seemed a little too thrilled at the idea of toxic vapors floating around the Barney books. After she made the complaint, she'd never even moved her own children outside.
A few minutes later I'll still inspecting the area, when he comes back up to me and says, "Donnah, I've got a headache and I feel dizzy. I think I smell something." "Fight it, Karim, fight it!" I said. "It's just suggestion!"
I knew I was beat though, and called the police. Then I called downtown to tell administration we were closing the building. We evacuated everybody and I sent the staff out back. I stayed inside to let the cops in the front door...and I started to smell something...and feel a little dizzy. "This is pure bullshit," I thought.
I let the biohazard guys in. They were already laughing at me. They must do this kind of thing a lot. One says, "Whatcha got? A bad batch of perfume?" They do a quick tour with their meters. Then they make another tour of the area, meterless, for their own amusement. They walk around taking big whiffs of air and making wisecracks. "Diapers!" says one. "Wino!" says the other.
As I went outside to get some air and take an aspirin for the headache brought on by the non-existent toxic vapors, I knew I was as big a sucker as anybody.
(Via FR.)
Both boys are currently "out of state." I bet some mommies and daddies had a little something to do with that:
Family attorneys were negotiating the surrender of Brian Hooks, 18, and Thomas S. Daugherty, 17, who will face murder charges in the death of one homeless man and aggravated-battery charges in the beating of two others.
Come home, babies. Time to go to the Big House.
So, who's up for this kind of nastiness and why do they do it?The crimes are most commonly committed by young men - in their teens or early 20s - who see the homeless as easy targets. They span all social and racial demographics: from inner-city gang members to upper-class suburbanites.
Screw you Commisioner Carlton Moore for trying to turn a class issue into a race one, and Ft. Lauderdale into an episode of "Law and Order" with your Harlem politician impersonation. Any person who isn't sleeping behind a locked door is vulnerable to the whims of psychos like Hooks and Daughtery.
UPDATE:
Hooks and Daughtery have returned to Florida and are now under arrest in Ft. Lauderdale.
**
Previous postings:
Some Homeless Are More Equal Than Others
A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence In Ft. Lauderdale
I don't want one.
If the nuclear club grows bigger by one, so be it. Direct armed conflict with them at this time would be too much on our plate. I've got no stomach for this one.
**
Previous postings:
A Coming Showdown
You know that crime you heard about where some kids in Ft. Lauderdale went around beating the snot out of homeless guys with baseball bats, killing one of them? The one with the horrifying video that's been all over the national news?
Yeah, that one.
Yesterday, Broward city commisioner Carlton Moore, at the urging of the local NAACP, called an emergency meeting at city hall that included the chief of police and the city attorney.
This was necessary because the three victims that particular night were "people of color" (two blacks, and one 'colorful' Hispanic) and Carlton Moore wants to make sure this crime is investigated just "as if they were millionaires." He also called on the State's Attorney to make hate crime charges, if applicable.
It's just a hunch, but I do believe the police are working on this one.
Since everyone was so unified in their revolt and disgust at these assaults on the homeless, Carlton Moore gets the Fast Bunny Race Bait-Award for being the first person to step in and make a hideous crime against vulnerable people living on the margins of our society be all about race.
**
Previous postings:
A Bit Of The Old Ultra-Violence In Ft. Lauderdale
Axl Rose, you are ghettofabulous!
Guess who's gotten all the Christmas presents he's going to get this year:
On Thursday, a Web site for The National Enquirer stated that its print edition this week includes a cover photograph of McCloy "as he recovers from his injuries."
That photograph, the site states, was taken by McCloy's brother.
..
[Aly Goodwin-Gregg, spokeswoman for McCloy's wife, Anna] said the tabloid provided $800 and the camera to take the photograph "without the permission or knowledge" of Randy's wife.
Ancient remains have been found in a crypt-like structure in downtown Miami:
"The idea of a crypt-like structure, that's never been observed anywhere in South Florida before," said Robert Carr, director of the Archaeological and Historical Conservancy."
Old bones in stone structures? Are we talking about an ancient Indian burial ground or the senior condos on Collins Avenue?
I'm seeing an Associated Press article with a headline saying that a SWAT team (or a deputy) killed a student at Milwee Middle School in Longwood. In the actual article though, the kid is in the hospital after being shot, and his condition is unknown.
Did AP jump the gun or was it FOX?
The Orlando Sentinel reporting doesn't show the student as having been killed.
UPDATE
It was FOX with the itchy trigger finger. They've corrected their headline.
UPDATE II
It was only a pellet gun the kid was carrying. He's now on advanced life support.
UPDATE III
Saturday evening: Christopher Penley has died. It's a sad situation for everyone involved. As the gun Penley was brandishing looked just like a real one, I can't see that the police had any choice. It may have been a suicide-by-proxy.
This Tampa Tribune overview of male anorexia brought to mind someone I used to see at work frequently, a fellow named Michael Krasnow. Michael has the distinction of having written what is probably the only memoir of a male anorexic.
One detail of the book has stayed with me: he would not swallow his spit. How can you get a handle on what is (I thought) a simple reflex? It must have been a full-time job for him managing his saliva consumption. If he could've, I bet he'd have gotten a saliva-glandectomy just to free up the time.
He died of anorexia a year after the book came out.
Dear Miss Manners,
I'm a FEMA worker earning my living by the sweat of my brow and whatever goods I can loot. I'd just scavenged through a damaged home and was headed out with the swag in a container, when much to my chagrin, I found the homeowner standing in his yard, yelling that I had his personal property.
I was dumbfounded, taken aback by this whole turn of events. I asked him what I should do with the bin filled with items. It's shameful for me to have to repeat his words to a lady such as yourself, but he told me "Put it back in my f - - - - - - house!"
I did as I was bidden, and yet this man still called the police and had me arrested.
So I ask you: what is the socially correct manner of interacting with homeowners when interrupted stealing their property?
Sincerely,
Dear Mr. Tanner,
Much like regifting a gift back to someone who gave it to you in the first place, your situation was a nightmare. However, there is no point in planning what one would say in an unexpected situation. For instance, should one walk in on a couple having sex in one's office, one will always blurt out, 'Hey, what are you doing?' when it's perfectly obvious exactly what they're doing."
During an awkward encounter, you conducted yourself with politeness and gentility in the face of a gentleman who was behaving in a coarse and common manner. That is the best one can do.
Regards,
Miss Manners
(Bumped for answer write-up)
This picking legend grew up with an officer for a father and a musical instrument fashioned from the family feline.
**
Second hint: A master of both flatpicking and fingerstyle, he pushed the guitar to the forefront in traditional American music, relegating the fiddle to supporting instrument.
**
Congrats to Willard for guessing Doc Watson.
**
Born Arthel Watson in Deep Gap, North Carolina to General and Annie Watson, Doc Watson's first stringed instrument was a banjo his brother made for him out of the skin of his grandmother's cat.
Due to infection and vascular disease, he lost his vision as a baby.
After the banjo, he tried fiddle; but he wanted to be able to sing as well. When his father heard him playing "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland" on a borrowed guitar, he got him his own. Finally everything was in place.
Fame, however, was not to come for decades. In the early 1960's, playing the fiddle tunes of Appalachia on his guitar, and singing in a rich, melodious voice, Doc Watson was heard by a pair of Folk revivalists who'd come down to record his neighbor. Doc was invited to record, and his appearance at the Newport Folk Festival catapulted him to the front of the Folk Revival.
By this time, his son Merle had also begun to play, and of Watson's 60 albums, 20 were with Merle.
As folk music waned, Watson's fame did not. His influence is felt in Country music today with the work of Ricky Skaggs, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, and countless others. He was, and continues to be hailed as a musician of incredible genius with a repertoire so broad and authentic, that it made other musicians want to go home and bust their guitars up for kindling.
He had won seven Grammy awards, including Lifetime Achievement; the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Academy of the Arts; was inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame in 2000, and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 1998. He is a national treasure.
The yearly Merlefest, started in honor of his son, is the largest festival of Americana music in the nation.
When asked how he would like to be remembered, he said, "I would rather be remembered as a likable person than for any phase of my picking. Don't misunderstand me; I really appreciate people's love of what I do with the guitar. That's an achievement as far as I'm concerned, and I'm proud of it. But I'd rather people remember me as a decent human being than as a flashy guitar player. That's the way I feel about it."
You can check for online recordings of Doc Watson's music here and here.
***
Previous postings:
Homefires: Southern Music XI
Homefires: Southern Music X
Homefires: Southern Music IX
Homefires: Southern Music VIII
Homefires: Southern Music VII
Homefires: Southern Music VI
Homefires: Southern Music V
Homefires: Southern Music IV
Homefires: Southern Music III
Homefires: Southern Music II
Homefires: Southern Music
If you're going to go out and beat unarmed, sleeping homeless men to death with baseball bats, at least be courteous like these young heroes and do it right in front of a surveillance camera:
Young men armed with baseball bats or sticks attacked three homeless men, killing one and hospitalizing the two others early Thursday morning in the city's downtown and beachside areas, police said.
..
Police released surveillance video of the attack at the FAU complex later in the morning. In the video, two young males are seen beating one of the homeless men with what appear to be bats. That victim survived the attack.
The video tape is quite clear, and I'm sure these young men will savor their own experiences at the bottom of the pecking order that exists in their new home in Raiford.
'Cause there's a new guitar god in the house. He's taking a few days to learn how to play one, then it's off to the studio to get that magic sound down on tape:Pop heart-throb Justin Timberlake is learning to play the guitar in a bid to create a rocky new sound on his upcoming album.
The Senorita singer has locked himself away with his instrument to help him ditch his R&B roots and get raw.
We've been waiting for the new hero, and he's been right under our nose all the time.
Who says the papers don't print good news? Here's some right here: traffic accident deaths in Maine are way down. At 167 for 2005, it's the lowest it's been in almost 25 years. Headline material? Don't be ridiculous.
Drug overdose deaths, mainly involving prescription drugs, are up:Final figures are not available yet, but state officials projected that overdose deaths in 2005 would reach 178, most of them accidental, compared with 167 highway deaths.
They've estimated there were 140 overdose deaths in 2005. But that's not past the magic threshold of 167, so it wouldn't be news, and it wouldn't get you this: "Let me be blunt: The Bush White House has failed to step to the plate for some of the most basic needs of Maine people," [Democratic Governor John Baldacci] said.
I knew that was going to be in there somewhere.
Strangely enough, although ranked all the way down at #19 in the United States by the American Kennel Club, the Maltese prances in at #4 in Miami.
"Den daddy said, 'It puts dah wotion in dah basket.'"
UPDATE
The ever-resourceful Paul has found a music video on this topic for us to enjoy.
Thanks, Paul!
The Russians think they know what Condi needs, but as far as I've heard, that's being taken care of.
I don't think anyone's ever compared her to Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, or Alexander the Great before. I bet she likes it.
From Sue Dohnim in the comments section at Ace's:
Imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever. A boot with a stilleto heel on your Commie face, Commie. Try not to get too turned on.
Condi rocks everybody's world.
When he was 12, Howard Dully was lobotomized. Now 56, he went on a quest to find out why. Along the way, he learned the history of the procedure and met with others who have undergone it.
Great story.
Duane and Hank both needed to eat a sandwich.
This pic's for YO.
Wail on, Skydog!
*The Devil went down to Mecca, he was looking for some Joos so he could help 'em steal.
*Baby Noor's operation in Atlanta went great. What a doll. Thanks all you plaque-toothed hillbilly KKKers for stressing for this little girl. It's a kind thing you've done.
*The Fat Guy likes to watch.
*So does Blog Idaho. What is with these guys?
*I've read that V the K is a Sunday School teacher. In a typical media lie-by-omission, they neglected to say that it's at the First Church of Cthulhu.
*Re re re re re re re recall. Sock it to her.
Kitty's keeping her eye on things.
What a let-down for the would-be supporters of Cuban spies FIU Professor Carlos Alvarez and his wife Elsa:
More than 30 friends were at the courthouse to support the couple. Many waited outside of the crowded courtroom. When Local 10 Political reporter told them that Carlos and Elsa Alvarez had already admitted to being spies, many expressed shock and others wept.
30 non-relatives came unbidden to the courthouse. I'm going to move to FIU. That sounds like a really loving, close-knit community of employees.
TSF Magnum is hosting this week's Cotillion. Put it in the Hopper and check it out!
A new hand-held gadget lets the troops hear through walls a foot thick:
The Radar Scope is expected to be in use in Iraq by spring of this year, according to DARPA's Edward Baranoski. Weighing just 1.5 pounds, the device is about the size of a telephone handset and will cost about $1,000. Waterproof and rugged, it runs on AA batteries. Held up to a wall, users will be able to sense movements as small as breathing up to fifty feet into the next room.
Now we won't even have to wait for the aliens to start scuttling around to sense them. Just their breathing will give them away.
I don't usually appreciate the whole blonde joke genre, but TacJammer has found one of them that just cracked me up.
My caruncles are scratchy, my snood is running, and my gizzard feels like it's grinding up Pamela Anderson's implants. I need some rest.
UPDATE
Glad I'm not the only one.
Like Madonna and Tookie Williams before him, Ted Kennedy is now a children's book author. "My Senator and Me: A Dogs-Eye View of Washington, D.C." stars himself and his dog Splash. Kennedy is enjoying this new creative outlet, and plans many future children's books to chronicle his life and adventures, such as:
"The New Adventures of Senator Underpants," "How the Leopard Got His Gin Blossoms," "The Call of the Girls Gone Wild," "The Voyage of the Delta 88," "Two Waitresses Ain’t Nothin’ But a Sandwich," and "Theodore and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Back in July of '69."
It's unlicensed and the amount of the cash prize has yet to be decided on, but in Ethiopia, "Ethiopian Idols" is must-see TV. It's not that the singing is so entertaining, but rather one judge in particular, Feleke Hailu, who is the talk around the water buffalo. See, Feleke insults people, frequently selling contestants that they "sing like a donkey." He's won the viewing audience over big time:
Fan Ejigahu Melesse says at first she and her friends were astounded by the bluntness of Feleke and his three fellow judges.
"I couldn't believe what they were saying to the singers," said the 25-year-old shop assistant who lives in the capital, Addis Ababa. "We just don't do that here in Ethiopia. But gradually we became addicted because it was so refreshing. Now we don't miss a show and think Feleke's comments are hilarious."
The contestants, however, find it hard to warm up to Feleke and his fellow judges:
The judges "are criminals," said Natinel Amsalu, a 17-year-old student and amateur crooner who was raked over the coals by the all-male panel after his croaky rendition of "My Love," a local song made popular by Ethiopian star Theowdros Kassahun.
"I am a very good singer but the judges kept saying I had serious problems reaching the high notes," said Natinel, who practices each day in front of a mirror. "They did not even listen to me. What they have done is a very bad thing. They made me look a fool."
How does Feleke feel about this? Recalling how one singer he'd criticized threw a stick at him, he said, "The problem is in our culture. It is not common to tell the truth or criticize. People cannot take criticism."
Genghis Khan once did this same thing to the walled city of Volohai, only he used cats and swallows:
A Fort Sumner, N.M., man said he caught a mouse inside his house and wanted to get rid of it. He had a pile of leaves burning outside, so he threw the mouse on it. The mouse caught fire and ran back into the house.
Luciano Mares, 81, talked about the event Saturday from a motel room. The blaze the mouse started destroyed the home and everything inside it.
Still works!
"The soldier, be he friend or foe, is charged with the protection of the weak and the unarmed."
- General Douglas MacArthur
Hugh Thompson died Friday. In this Georgian was the decency, courage, and strength we hold as being at the core of the American soldier.
On March 16, 1968, Hugh Thompson stopped the My Lai massacre.
Oh, you didn't know someone stopped it? Not a lot of people do.
Thompson, a helicopter pilot charged with flying recon, and confused by all the civilian bodies he was seeing down in "Pinkville," grew less confused when he saw how they were getting that way. Three times he dropped smoke next to injured civilians to signal they needed help. Three times he saw the people he had ask to be helped instead be murdered. The officers were out of control and they had taken their demoralized men down with them. He radioed back to base about what he was seeing. He landed several times and asked what was being done to help the wounded civilians. The answers he got, such as "Mind your own business" and "Yeah, we'll help 'em--help 'em out their misery," filled him with anger.
When Warrant Officer Thompson saw an officer and his soldiers approaching a group of civilians in a bunker, he knew he had to act. He told his crew, gunner Larry Colburn and crew chief Glenn Andreotta, that if another civilian was shot, to open fire on the troops. Then he landed his helicopter in between the civilians and the troops and summoned two gunships for a two-fold unusual mission: to serve as medivacs and to get civilians clear of rampaging American soldiers. He got out of the helicopter and gathered the civilians there around him. He told Lt. Stephen Brooks that his crew had their guns trained on him and his men.
After those civilians were safely off, he and his crew themselves took off, only to land again so Andreotta could climb into a ditch full of dead civilians because he had seen movement. He grabbed a bloody but uninjured child he found there and they took off. On the ground a cease fire was called. Hugh Thompson went back to his unit to report his terrible tale. He repeated it again three years later at the Court Martial of Lt. William Calley.
Then he fell off the map of history. In 1998 he and his crew were remembered and awarded the Soldier's Medal.
On Friday Hugh Thompson died. Remember a soldier who had great personal and moral courage. Remember a true American hero.
Not all the soldiers there that day participated in the massacre. Some refused direct orders. One soldier shot himself instead. My Lai was an anomaly and has served as an object lesson of what can happen when a unit has poor leadership. Never make excuses for bad officers: there's too much riding on it, and there might not always be a Hugh Thompson around to step in and do the right thing.
(Via Silent Running.)
From Southern Knight. I got tagged, and I'll be a sport and pass this one along.
My life as a child (under 15) in 50 words or less: I was born to a Cracker family in Florida. My dad was career Navy, and my mother was an elementary school teacher. We stayed in our hometown while dad stood watch on the wall. After 30 years and three wars, dad had finally done his bit and came back home for good when I was 10.
Where were you a kid? North Ft. Myers, a tiny place in Southwest Florida on the other side of the river from a place slightly less tiny.
Given the choice, were you barefoot or shoed? Barefoot was the norm back then. When I first visited Miami I was amazed they had a sign saying you had to wear shoes in the mall. I was used to the agony I got when my feet hit the air-conditioned tiles of the mall after walking across the blistering hot tar parking lot.
Who was your best friend? Where are they now? One of my hundred cousins, Al, star of my very first memory. I remember meeting him when I was three. He kept me laughing for 15 years and we were Alice Cooper's two biggest fans. He's grown and lives in Virginia now.
Were you a city kid or a country kid? I was a kid in a subdivision in the sticks.
Stupidest thing you did before the age of 15: I set my bedroom on fire. Bonus!: Stupidest thing after 15: I set my Army tent on fire.
Do you know how to play Kick the Can? No. Local parents provided their children with plastic balls and such. Other locals customs included eating with forks and knives and burying the dead.
What else did you play in groups? Knock-on-doors-and-run and Mock-strangers-in-the-mall.
Worst injury? I cut my whole thumb off and had to get it re-attached.
Do you agree with Bob Seger’s line in Against the Wind, “I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then”? Yeah, there are some life lessons I could have done without, especially the ones where I kept signing up for refreshers.
Three people to pass this meme to:
With Cheese!
Trambo Unleashed
Boston Irish
