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Friday, May 18, 2012
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  • John C. Campbell Folk School

    Stealing Fire

    by | 2 | 14 hours ago
    Stealing Fire

    My friend told me before I left home that “Just because it isn’t glowin’ doesn’t mean it’s not hot.”

    So the next day I set out from the mountains of northeastern West Virginia along the Shenandoah Valley to the John C. Campbell Folk School (Folkschool.org) in the hills of far western North Carolina to take a week-long class on the basics of blacksmithing.

    Southern Health

    A Tale of Two Counties

    by | 0 | 15 hours ago
    A Tale of Two Counties

    Frank Adams begins each day with a bowl of cereal. He used to eat a larger breakfast, complete with a serving of bacon or sausage – which he now calls “dead animals” – but he changed his ways years ago when his wife’s morning sickness kept her from cooking for him.

    Now 74, Adams has continued to eat light, stay out of the doctor’s office and avoid prescription drugs. As founder of Keep Chatsworth-Murray Beautiful, his job allows him walks around the mountainous county he calls home. On those walks, he’s seen that his lifestyle is anything but normal for Murray County.

    A Kit of Soaring Pigeons

    An idyll of Butler’s Swap

    by | 0 | 16 hours ago
    An idyll of Butler’s Swap

    Butler’s Swamp has gone. Confined, sanitized and renamed Lake Claremont, it has been incorporated into a ritzy housing subdivision with its own golf course.

    I once covered every square foot of that old swamp in a tin canoe, exploring its reed beds and mud-bars, looking for water rats and reed-warblers’ nests and hoping against hope to encounter a norn – a black tiger snake – lying in wait for some unsuspecting frog. At dusk, squadron upon squadron of little black and little pied cormorants flew in from the Swan River to roost in the paperbarks and drowned gums.

    "Anti-" Sentiments

    Bill Downs on the Recent Elections in Europe

    by | 2 | May 15, 2012
    Bill Downs on the Recent Elections in Europe
    The recent elections on the other side of the Atlantic continue to cause concern around the planet and news coverage in the United States is both short on explanation and perspective. That is why I asked Dr. ... Read on →

    They Don't Believe in Science

    The Wrong Horse

    by | 2 | May 15, 2012
    The Wrong Horse
    The apparently irresistible campaign contributions and lobbying that seduced national and state legislators into signing onto privatization and deregulation schemes over the past decades brought us the current economic mess. The push for nuclear power is more ... Read on →

    Billion Dollar Questions

    A Draperesque Vision of America

    by | 15 | May 14, 2012
    A Draperesque Vision of America
    Can an anti-woman, anti-black, anti-senior, anti-sick, anti-worker, anti-unemployed, anti-poor, anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-Muslim, anti-education, anti-union, anti-peace, anti-environment, anti-science, anti-Wall-Street-reform, anti-Geneva-Convention, anti-world presidential candidate win?* That seems unfair. Let me re-phrase it. Can a candidate wishing to robo-sign teapublican legislation ... Read on →

    Courthouses of Georgia

    The Seat Of Power

    by | 1 | May 11, 2012
    Lincoln County Courthouse (Photo: Keith Hair)
    I can't speak for crooks, drifters, and others standing before a judge, but law-abiding Georgians love their courthouses and well they should. Georgia has one of America’s great collections of courthouses. The buildings range from Greek Revival ... Read on →

    Love Means

    Forty Miles Of Bad Road

    by | 5 | May 16, 2012
    Forty Miles Of Bad Road
    Julie wouldn’t look me in the eye. She tore off bits of paper napkin and rolled them into little balls. Every few seconds she’d glance at her girlfriend pleading for help. She was trying to explain what ... Read on →

    People Are Corporations

    How Willard Creates Jobs

    by | 4 | May 14, 2012
    Lynn Tilton, Chief Executive Officer, Patriarch Partners
    By prompting people like Lynn Tilton to decide that "enough is enough." Well, to be honest, as a neighbor tells it, Lynn Tilton is responsible for the rescue of the paper mill in Gorham, NH because her father ... Read on →

    Southern Politics

    New job might have saved McConnell’s life

    by | 0 | May 14, 2012
    New job might have saved McConnell’s life
    Becoming South Carolina’s lieutenant governor in March just might have saved Glenn McConnell’s life. “People have said ever since I came down here, I look healthier and I’ve been healing faster,” said McConnell, the powerful Senate president pro ... Read on →

    Facing South

    What happened in NC? Lessons from the amendment battle

    by | 3 | May 11, 2012
    What happened in NC? Lessons from the amendment battle
    As expected, North Carolina voters passed a constitutional amendment yesterday stating “Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized." Polls had always shown the amendment had majority ... Read on →
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  • Vending Machine Legislation

    Republican Corruption, Taxes, and Our Children

    by | 0 | May 11, 2012
    Republican Corruption, Taxes, and Our Children
    I am a Democrat, and I am proud of it. However, the S.C. Press Association distributes this column, and neither they nor I want it to be a weekly partisan rant — there’s far ... Read on →

    Guilty or Innocent?

    Does CSI undermine common sense in the jury box?

    by | 1 | May 8, 2012
    Does CSI undermine common sense in the jury box?
    Science says no, but court officers not reassured. If real-life technology solved crimes as easily as the methods seen on "CSI" and similar TV shows, there’d be a lot more convictions for criminal offenses ... Read on →

    Art in the South

    Crystal Bridges Museum’s art and design are magnificent

    by | 0 | May 7, 2012
    Crystal Bridges Museum’s art and design are magnificent
    Lots of people have visited Bentonville, Ark., home of Walmart, for commercial reasons. Now there's another major reason to visit: to go to a new museum with a superb collection of American art. ... Read on →

    The Good, Bad, & Ugly

    Southern Road Names

    by | 4 | May 6, 2012
    Southern Road Names
    How often we drive along giving no thought to the road we travel. And more often than that we give no thought to how the road got its name. In my case, I’m ... Read on →

    Make Life So Beautiful

    Paul Simon’s Memphis Blues

    by | 1 | May 6, 2012
    Paul Simon’s Memphis Blues
    At supper my dad told of a conversation he had with a client in Pennsylvania earlier that day. It was April 9, 1968, the day Martin Luther King, Jr. was laid to rest. "I ... Read on →

    The Common Good

    How Liberals Think

    by | 19 | May 5, 2012
    How Liberals Think
    I recently served on a panel at the 64th Annual Conference on World Affairs that was titled “How Liberals Think,” a question I’ve pondered as long as I can remember. Beyond the classic dictionary ... Read on →

    Take & Take

    The Conservative Dilemma

    by | 2 | May 5, 2012
    The Conservative Dilemma
    Government by the people is the ultimate DIY enterprise. Mainly, we benefit each other by taking turns. Conservatives are people who, for whatever reason, do not know where their interests lie. And, having ... Read on →

    Keepin' Us Safe For Ads

    Self-appointed saviors

    by | 1 | May 4, 2012
    Self-appointed saviors
    Remember Ronny Zamora, the Miami teenager who shot and killed an elderly neighbor in 1977 and then ignited a national debate about television’s influence on behavior when he and his lawyer argued that ... Read on →

    Literally

    Huey P. Long is Re-Assassinated!

    by | 4 | May 1, 2012
    Huey P. Long is Re-Assassinated!
    Huey P. Long is surely the most assassinated figure in American political history. Although he was murdered only once – bullet holes still visible in the marble around the ground floor elevators in ... Read on →

    Or What?

    Do South Carolinians Hate Government?

    by | 8 | May 1, 2012
    Do South Carolinians Hate Government?
    Do South Carolinians hate government? Is there something within our political DNA here in the Palmetto State that causes us to hate government – all governments? Some recent polling numbers would seem to say ... Read on →

    Hardly Neutral

    The Nurturing of Fundamentalist Ideology

    by | 11 | Apr 30, 2012
    The Nurturing of Fundamentalist Ideology
    The term "fundamentalist ideology" probably evokes the idea of Islamic fanaticism to many, Christian or Jewish extremists to others, but rarely are the promoters of capitalism associated with the term. Yet, there is ... Read on →

    Simpler Good Times

    A1A, The Road To Burma-Shave

    by | 4 | Apr 30, 2012
    A1A, The Road To Burma-Shave
    Long ago we took great vacations. Simple trips beyond imitation. This might be a column to save especially if you remember A1A and Burma-Shave. — Despite the high price of gasoline the summer vacation lives ... Read on →

    Route 66

    Dream Ride

    by | 3 | Apr 30, 2012
    Dream Ride
    As the deep-throated, bone-jarring, creeping rumble of the Sturgis motorcycle rally dimmed with each mile, we rode south toward Nebraska. My wife, Arlette, a native of France, and I, both 55-year-old "boomers", were ... Read on →

    Celebrating Goodbye

    Le Pot de Départ

    by | 0 | Apr 30, 2012
    Le Pot de Départ
    With my teaching assistant contract drawing to its close, and my life in Vannes, France also nearing its conclusion, there remained one final French tradition for me to experience. Friday night, the day ... Read on →

    Rights & Not Rights

    Irony and Interposition, With A Bourbon Chaser If You Please!

    by | 1 | Apr 27, 2012
    Irony and Interposition, With A Bourbon Chaser If You Please!
    Since the South’s interactions with the rest of the country are simply replete with examples of “incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result,” I've ... Read on →

    Know Before You Owe

    Obamas at Ft. Stewart, Georgia

    by | 3 | Apr 27, 2012
    Obamas at Ft. Stewart, Georgia
    A two-fer, if ever there was one. According to the White House Press office, both the First Lady and the President spoke. However, despite Republican carping about the President using the official plane ... Read on →

    Southern Inferno

    Lost Wax

    by | 2 | Apr 26, 2012
    Lost Wax
    4th Century BC Greek Cup Depicts Lost Wax Foundry I tagged along with painter and sculptor Richard Cecil, friend and former Pine Lake neighbor, when he picked up the latest edition of his beautiful ... Read on →

    Prosecute the Malefactors

    Running Out of Time

    by | 28 | Apr 25, 2012
    Running Out of Time
    I have come both reluctantly and late to the belief that President Obama will lose re-election unless he moves, and moves quickly, to prosecute the main Wall Street malefactors of the 2008 economic ... Read on →

    Evil Reporter Chick

    Tallahassee

    by | 1 | Apr 25, 2012
    Tallahassee
    The place where you spend your formative years can draw you back with the pull of a magnet to metal. Or it can repel, the desire to divorce yourself from prickly memories trumping ... Read on →

    GA Sales Tax Vote

    T-SPLOST vote on July 31 is ill-conceived way to help

    by | 7 | Apr 25, 2012
    T-SPLOST vote on July 31 is ill-conceived way to help
    The vote on July 31 on whether to add a penny sales tax for transportation in 12 different regions of Georgia is problematic at best. I question whether each of the regions will approve ... Read on →

    Cheating Our Schools

    Howard Rich – Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and Laboratory Mice

    by | 3 | Apr 24, 2012
    Howard Rich – Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and Laboratory Mice
    I have never met Howard Rich. And I expect that if I ever did – say, at a party or a backyard cook out — I’d probably think he was ‘a nice guy’. ... Read on →

    Cheating the Students

    On Hold

    by | 1 | Apr 23, 2012
    On Hold
    High court needs to rule on 1993 school funding case. It takes four years for most high school students to graduate from high school. Most college students traditionally also graduate in four years. But four ... Read on →

    The Meat Man

    Front Yard Barbecue in the Mississippi Delta

    by | 1 | Apr 22, 2012
    Front Yard Barbecue in the Mississippi Delta
    “Catch a cannonball, to take me down the line …” — The Band Clarksdale, Miss. – First, a moment of silence for the soul of a great American, the Arkansas drummer and singer Levon ... Read on →

    Wrought Thoughts

    The Poetry That Is Ironwork

    by | 3 | Apr 22, 2012
    Heartgate - Entrance to Philip Simmons Garden, Anson Street, Charleston, SC
    What have man wrought? Well let’s start with iron, wrought iron. Favored for ornamental fences and gates it’s an aspect of the South that’s as southern as biscuits and molasses, as southern as ... Read on →
  • Our Wall

    Your thoughts and comments on movies, plays, concerts, restaurants, bars, arts and festivals. Alerts for upcoming events, political rallies or what's going on where you live. Comments on the news. What's ticked you off? What's floating your boat? Share an idea. Or just tell us what's on your mind. Whatever, keep it clean and post it here:

    Lee Leslie: CCGA Event Series: The Georgia Transparency Project
    How Transparent is our state legislature? Join us at the People TV studios for an in-depth discussion of the Georgia Transparency Project – which increases transparency above and beyond what legislators self-report.

    Photo of Jim Walls
    Featured Speaker: Jim Walls, Editor of AtlantaUnfiltered.com and Director of the Georgia Transparency Project
    Date/Time: Monday, May 14th - 6:15 PM – reception (beer, wine & light hors d'oeuvres provided)
    
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM – Taping of Program before a live studio audience
    RSVP: Click link below for registration -or- call 404-524-4598
    http://commoncausega.org/events/ccga-event-series-the-georgia-transparency-project/

    Monica Smith: Not to be missed--"Mitt Romney, American Parasite" His years at Bain represent everything you hate about capitalism
    James Sanderson had encountered a rare moment of industrial harmony.
    It was the early 1990s, and the 750 men and women at Georgetown Steel were pumping out wire rods at peak performance. They had an abiding trust in management's ability to run a smart company. That allegiance was rewarded with fat profit-sharing checks. In the basement-wage economy of Georgetown, South Carolina, Sanderson and his co-workers were blue-collar aristocracy. "We were doing very good," says Sanderson, president of Steelworkers Local 7898. "The plant was making money, and we had good profit-sharing checks, and everything was going well."
    What he didn't know was that it was about to end. Hundreds of miles to the north, in Boston, a future presidential candidate was sizing up Georgetown's books.
    http://www.villagevoice.com/2012-04-18/news/Mitt-Romney-american-parasite/

    David Evans: "If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing." --Kingsley Amis, born in London, 16 April, 1922.

    Lee Leslie: The House passed Paul Ryan's budget today (228-191). From Daily Kos: Just a few reminders about the Ryan budget, and what the House Republicans put down as their political marker for 2012, their vision for a Republican-ruled America: It would give the wealthy a humongous tax break, the lowest tax rate since the Hoover administration; it would gut nutritional assistance, cutting it by 17 percent over the next decade; it would cut Medicare benefits and begin the process of killing the program; it would kill millions of jobs; it turns Medicaid into a block grant and deeply cuts federal spending for it, and for SCHIP, the children's health program; and it breaks the already agreed upon Budget Control Act of 2011, threatening, once again, a government shutdown. This is also the budget endorsed by Mitt Romney.

    Lee Leslie: Check out the new website dedicated to SC judge who helped end legal Southern segregation: http://WatiesWaring.org/


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