1. My uncle is dying. I couldn't say we're close, but he's the only one in the family with a clue about who I really am. He calls me Gypsy. We're doing a lot of traveling these days to visit him, take my dad to the doctor, etc. Any day now, my uncle will slip into a coma from cancer that has moved from his lungs to his brain. That sucks.
2. The weather is too good. It's still in the 80s here. We have a serious drought on our hands.
3. The news is too bad. The Democrats are either too lame or making too much money to oppose the Bush junta. Bush continues to dismantle the Constitution. Blackwater is committing murder. Our troops are dying for no reason. Darfur is in the grips of its 4th year of genocide. pResident Bombs A Lot is going to attack Iran, and I don't even want to think about what could happen there. If you've got friends in Israel, tell them you love them.
4. Halliburton is coming to Kentucky. People here think liquifying coal is a good idea - it isn't. Why does progress here always involve a deal with the devil?
4. I'm taking art classes and I can't decide whether to talk about that here or start yet another blog on this site. Then that begs the question should I redesign this site. Or change servers. Change domains? and on.. and on.... it never ends.
5. I'm having an identity crisis. I am completely unprepared to have lived this long. I figured I'd never make 30, yet here I am at 46. What do you do when you can't be who you want to be? Who am I? What am I? What's the point? Why are people so much dumber than I am so much more successful at almost everything? Why do my days feel like they're an hour long? Do I leave my hair long and dark or cut it off and bleach it blonde, which will piss everyone around me off? Why do I alternate between feeling numb and feeling ovewhelmed? Why do my dreams feel more real than my waking hours? Why can't I paint? I could go on like this for hours, and do...
6. I'm worried I may lose my health care. I'm stressed about money. I'm getting nothing done on my book. I hate my clothes. My room is a disaster of epic proportions. My sick mother needs more from me than I have to give.
I could go on, but you get the point, if there is such a thing. I'll write more when I can do something besides whine.
Peace.
posted 6:25 am at The-Goddess
DISCLAIMER: I have only indirect knowledge of the following events. I believe this information to be essentially true, but I have not proof. I believe the FBI is acting in good faith, but finding what they're told to look for and how to interpret it. This is why we desperately need a good investigative reporter in this area.
Kentucky is known internationally as having the most violent elections in the US. The BBC did a special on it in 2000, when a car carrying a county official was sprayed with bullets in Clay County, and in a separate incident a sheriff killed by an opponent. Floyd Co., where I was today, is where two friends got into a fight about the Iraq war and the Republican killed the Democrat, though the Democrat drew his gun first. The moral of this story is that Kentuckians often express themselves with firearms. See the previous post about my cousin redecorating the Holiday Inn when his girlfriend dissed him at a party. It that hotel had been locally owned then, it might not have been a big deal, but being an international chain, Holiday Inn pressed the issue HARD. Some people just don't understand "armed and crazy" as a cultural norm. (Yes, I'm sorry, I gotta call them the way I see them.)
Anyway, Knott County, Kentucky also has problems, but at least they're more subtle. Remember that little dust up we call the War Between the States? Well, Kentucky didn't join the Confederacy, but a lot of Kentuckians did and never left it. As a result, until 2006, Knott County, Kentucky never had a Republican Judge Executive. This created a long-lived Democratic political machine which was corrupt and incompetent beyond belief. Lots of money got spent, but none of it benefitted the people of Knott County.
In 2000, many of us had had enough. So we got together and showed up at the Democratic committee meetings, elected some new officers and delegates, and we voted the bastards out, to be replaced by a relatively honest new kind of Democrat named Donnie Newsome. For the first time in history, money that was appropriated for public works got used for... Public Works! Specifically, we got "city water," so we no longer had to buy bottled water and use iron-out on our clothes because they had turned rusty brown. That's a great thing.
The local Democratic Machine, known hereabouts as The Mountain Mafia, was not pleased. Unfortunately, somebody in the clique allegedly has a friend or a cousin in the FBI. Our new, functional Judge Executive was framed for buying votes - a Kentucky tradition from way back, 1 vote = 1 pint of moonshine, except that he DIDN'T but his opponent DID according to testimony in the trial - and he was convicted by people coerced to testify against him for reduced sentences in drug cases. He went to jail for many months thanks to the Republican, Bush-appointed judge who had a chance to screw a Democrat .
Donnie's assistant, Mac Combs, was also an honest guy and filled in admirably in Donnie's absence. One day, Mac went out to his truck and leaned over to put a tin of chewing tobacco inside when he found - a stash of drugs. He took them straight to the sheriff, but I don't think there was ever an official report. I could be wrong. Anyway, the drugs were planted to get Mac in trouble. Apparently, the plan was to let him drive home not knowing what was in his glove compartment and tip off the state police. No one ever found out who planted the drugs, but Mac locks his doors now, which is unheard of in this area.
After months of this nonsense, Donnie got out of jail, but it ruined his life. Another guy who was caught up in the scandal had his house burned while he was away and wasn't allowed to come back to Knott County to live. Finally, it was up to Republican governor Ernie Fletcher to appoint a temporary Judge Exec. There were two main candidates for the job - Mac and MIke Hall, the Mountain Mafia candidate. Loyalties ran deep and there were alliances made and lost as the tension between the Mafia and the New Democrats squared off to fight for the office. In the end, Ernie Fletch appointed ..... Randy Thompson, new Republican and owner of a local radio station. What. the. hell?!
Randy moves in, people are not pleased, but the delight of many, he does a good job. He's forward thinking guy with vision and he started projects like skate parks and ATV trails. Things settle down until the next election.
The two Democratic camps square off again, and the voting machines mysteriously report 0 votes in Rock Fork, which is a strong Democratic area that would have gone for Mac. Who knows how many other mistakes were made? At the end of a tense night, the odious Mike Hall wins and the Democratic committee has a mass of resignations by people who start researching whether they can legally reject the winner of the primary. They couldn't, and many are now Republicans or Independents.
When the election rolls around it's Mike Hall vs. Randy Thompson. For the first time in history, the Republican wins in Knott county because nobody but his little clique likes Mike. Republicans rejoice, having no real opposition now. Randy stays in office and continues to kick ass for the people of Knott county.
--but wait--
The Mountain Mafia still allegedly has an "in" with the FBI, who recently swooped down on county offices with federal warrants and bad attitudes, taking computers and documents by the box-load, including one item essential to the Judge's defense of which there is no copy. An audit ensues. Misinformation trickles forth. Knott county is having bad flash-backs to the previous tragedy that followed the FBI.
If Randy Thompson is convicted of anything, no one else with a clue will ever run for Judge Executive and we are back at the mercy of the Mountain Mafia.
No, I can't run for office, I'm physically unable, though I wouldn't if I could because I ain't going to jail if I happen to win.
posted 8:37 pm at The-Goddess
Naturally, the news had to bring in a lyin' ass Republican to counter the Edwards Tour on Poverty. This time around we have RNC Chairman Mike Duncan, your basic evil, entitled white guy speaking from Washington. The first thing he mentions is the haircut. *sigh... Then he says Edwards is out of touch with poverty in America - as statement dripping with such irony it makes my eyes hurt - and starts talking about how big Edwards house is and blaming him for the health care crisis in North Carolina because he used to sue doctors for medical mistakes.
Then, wouldn't you know, he mentions the bible. The Republicans' favorite line in the whole thing is "the poor will always be with us" and he trots it out, implying that we have no obligation to help the poor because Jesus says they can't be helped, and there's the implicit understanding amongst the Republican rich that anyone who wants a job has one, and if you were a good, "god"-fearing Xtian you wouldn't be poor anyway. I'm glad this guy isn't here in KY, because I might have to hunt him down and scream at him. Edwards even used the Gordon Gekko line in saying that the view in Washington has been "greed is good" and he resoundly rejects that. The Repubs don't have a leg to stand on here, put they keep throwing labels at Edwards that more accurately apply to themselves. When you haven't got a conscience, it's easy to lie like that, especially when you have no respect at all for your intended audience. Edwards does have the distinction of having used the "L" word in the debates for 2004. He said of Bush and Cheney "they will absolutely lie about anything." The person who will stand up and call shrub out for being the Liar that he is gets my vote, hands down.
Duncan next hammers the sore spot for this area - liquid coal plants. A lot of people in this area think liquid coal is going to save Eastern Kentucky, but they're only going to do what the coal industry has always done here - make the mine owners rich, get a bunch of miners killed, and destroy our environment. It won't do shit for poor people, even if they're directly employed by such a plant.
This area is still struggling to get plumbing and potable water to our poorest residents. (The coal industry has destroyed our ground water. You should see the sludge that comes out of the faucets in some places - or wells, if they don't have faucets.) The average income in the area Edwards visited today is $12,000 dollars a year. The drop-out rate is the highest in the state and therefore in the country. 1 in 4 people in Kentucky is disabled, and a large part of the population is simply unemployable, even for the most menial jobs because they are illiterate. Yet Floyd county has more millionaires per square mile than any other county in the country, because there are a few VERY wealthy mine owners who maintain residences here. Nowhere in America is the "2 Americas" analogy more accurate.
It's not a visible difference, though. That table full of guys in trucker hats and overalls at the local Dennys might have a combined worth that would make Donald Trump drool. Rich people here don't necessarily look rich, and their houses are hidden up in the hills behind gates and stone walls. The money isn't visible here.
Now here's where I get in trouble with my middle-class family...
The poverty in Eastern Kentucky is in. your. face. I can't begin to describe to you the conditions some people live in here. My best analogy is that Eastern KY is like an Indian reservation, without the sovereignty or government aid. We're isolated geographically and we have no infrastructure, so nobody gives a shit about us. They're trying to create tourism in this area with native arts and crafts, golf ranges, skate parks, ATV trails, horse trails and our new elk population, but tourists need things like hotels and restaurants. Except for fast food and an occasional Chinese smorgasboard or Mexican place, there's no such thing. The best meal in the area is supposedly the catfish at the Lodge at Jenny Wiley State Park. There is some higher culture in Kentucky, including fine restaurants, hotels and art galleries, but it's in Lexington and Louisville on the other side of the state.
Let me tell you about the hotels. There's a former Holiday Inn that one of my many, many cousins redecorated with a gun during a party. He was away for a few years. There's a motel that used to be the home of a satanic vampire cult that made the national news when it's "leader" - who was something like 17, and whose mom was a part of it and having sex with his friends - murdered his girlfriend's parents in Florida. There's one other place that Hillary Clinton got to stay in, which I understand is passable, but not great. So if you're coming to visit, bring a tent. We've got an abundance of open mountain land, as long as you don't mind copperheads, rattlesnakes (like the huge one my dad killed in the front yard last week) mountain lions (like the one my cousins down in hollow saw up on our side of the mountain the other night, so we can't let the dogs out after dark) bears, deer, tics and the aforementioned giant elk. No bees, though, so it's getting hard to grow anything. Don't get me started on the foreign insects and flora that have been brought into the area which all caused greater problems than they might have solved.
A friends husband once said that I lived in the middle of nowhere, but my reply was that I have to drive 3 hours to get to the middle of nowhere. That's why my family had to camp at the hospital in Lexington when my mom had two brain surgeries and couldn't be left alone. There are fabulous hospitals even in this area, though, because everyone is sick. Diabetes, heart disease and lung ailments (from exposure to coal) abound. Then there are the accidents, like the toddler who was burned this week when he dropped his sippy cup on some black powder some boys had been playing with, and the car that went driving down the state highway in front of my place shooting randomly the other night. Did I mention that we are the reason oxycontin is called "hillbilly heroin?" It's the number one form of recreation for our young people. We have the same pervasive problems with domestic violence and rape that are found on reservations, too.
Most people are older, poorly educated even if they finished school, and they're deeply indoctrinated in the local religion which is reactionary far beyond anything justified by the actual text of the bible, but they don't know that because the preachers they listen to are illiterate, too. Not just unschooled in theology, I mean can't read a word at all.
The middle class here is tiny, and even a county employee can be the biggest fish in this pond. The bigger fish get angry that this area is portrayed as impoverished. These are proud people, but frankly, they're in denial. You should see what passes for a newspaper here. It's more like a church newsletter, with columns by paperboys and adults who can't write, or even conjugate a verb. They won't touch anything controversial and there's no "investigative reporting" though we sorely need some for reasons I'll get into later on. I don't usually read it because it makes me want to hurt somebody.
Finally, the government recently decided not to put a bio-weapons lab in London, KY because they wouldn't be able to get anyone to work in it that would actually consider living here. The kicker for me is that people here were upset that they weren't going to get a lab full of anthrax and ebola in their back yards because it would have created jobs. Get that? They'd rather have a job doing scutt work around bio-weapons than live.
Is there really anything left to say after that? More power to you, John. Even if you don't succeed, at least you've got people thinking about the poor.
posted 6:59 pm at The-Goddess
Well, it was a great day. Very hot, but only one person fainted. (There were over 100 when Clinton came to Ashland.)
I got to go upstairs with the press to see the Senator answer questions. He reiterated that he's challenging George Bush to come to the rural parts of the country to see how the real people he's not thinking about live.
He repeated the claim that he has the only universal health plan, which isn't true - Kucinich has had one since the last election.
For the most part, though, his rap about a war on poverty is a good one. He's hitting all the right notes - stronger unions (which got the largest applause from the Floyd county crowd, this being mining country, and all) a higher minimum wage, universal health care, college for all.
He said of those who accuse him of class war: "If everybody having a fair shot and the same opportunities as everyone else is class warfare, so be it."
Keep fighting, John. You may not be Dennis Kucinich, but on the other hand, you might have a shot at actually getting elected.
And, despite what my contact with the campaign said, I maintain that I am the only liberal blogger in Eastern Kentucky. A dubious distinction, perhaps, but a distinction nonetheless.
posted 4:39 pm at The-Goddess
I hope you all had a great Brighid's Day!
My day wasn't bad except for two things. First, my mother told me that buying sketchbooks for myself and my younger cousins is "money thowed [sic] into the fire... but then you throw money away anyway." Then, about the dinner I fixed for my family, which was gorgeous and succulent if I do say so myself: "It was hard to get out of the shell - I don't like sweet lobster."
And people wonder why I can't get out of bed.
On to other news:
Writer Molly Ivins died this week and it breaks my heart that she didn't live long enough to see the end of the Bush Administration. She succumbed to breast cancer, so why don't we all buy one of the many pink Susan G. Komen fund products that are sold these days. I think Molly would appreciate that.
Barbaro had to be put to sleep. Talk about one, brief shining moment. RIP, champ.
In Kentucky this week. two teen boys were convicted of driving around shooting horses for fun. Those are serial killers in the making. Why wait until they get out and move on to killing people? Let's put them down before they do any more damage.
posted 7:38 pm at The-Goddess
