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Helms's first full-time job after college was as a sports reporter with The News & Observer of Raleigh, North Carolina. There he met Dorothy Coble, who was the newspaper's society reporter. They married in 1942. During World War II, Helms served stateside as a recruiter in the United States Navy. After the war, he pursued his twin interests, journalism and politics (at this time, within the Democratic Party). Helms became the city news editor of the Raleigh Times, and later moved to radio and television.
Helms began his career in politics as an unofficial researcher for Willis Smith, a conservative Democratic lawyer and former president of the American Bar Association, who successfully ran for the U.S. Senate in 1950. Smith ran as a supporter of racial segregation. After the election, Senator Smith hired Helms to be his administrative assistant in Washington, D.C. In 1952, Helms worked on the presidential campaign of Senator Richard B. Russell, Jr., of Georgia, who was seeking the Democratic nomination. When Smith suddenly died in 1953, Helms left Washington and returned to Raleigh.
From 1953 through 1960, Helms was executive director of the North Carolina Bankers Association. He went on to become the executive vice-president, vice chairman of the board, and assistant chief executive officer of the Raleigh-based Capitol Broadcasting Company, from 1960 until his election to the Senate. During his time at CBC, he gained fame as a conservative commentator through his daily editorials on WRAL-TV in Raleigh. The editorials, which he gave at the end of each night's local news broadcast, made Helms famous throughout eastern North Carolina. The editorials featured folksy anecdotes interwoven with vivid right-wing viewpoints. He referred to The News and Observer, his former employer, as the "Nuisance and Disturber" for its promotion of liberal views. The University of North Carolina, which had a reputation as a bastion of liberalism in the state, was a frequent target of Helms' criticism: in one memorable editorial he suggested that a wall be erected around the campus to prevent the university's liberal views from "infecting" the rest of the state. Although his editorials created controversy, they also made him popular with conservative voters, and Helms won a seat on the Raleigh City Council in 1957. He served for four years.
Helms worked on the unsuccessful 1960 Democratic primary gubernatorial campaign of I. Beverly Lake, Sr., who ran as a supporter of racial segregation. Lake was defeated by Terry Sanford, who ran as a racial moderate willing to implement the federal government's policy of school integration.
Election victories
In 1972, Helms announced his candidacy for a seat in the United States Senate. He won the Republican primary with 60.1 percent of the vote and eliminated two intraparty opponents. Meanwhile, the Democrats retired the ailing Senator B. Everett Jordan, who lost his primary, 55.3 percent to 44.6 percent, to Congressman Nick Galifianakis of Durham. Helms played upon Galifianakis' ethnicity during the campaign, running under the slogan "Vote for Helms—He's One of Us!". Benefiting from Richard Nixon's landslide re-election, Helms became the first Republican elected to the Senate from North Carolina in the 20th century. Helms polled 795,248 (54 percent) to Galifianakis' 677,293 (46 percent).

In 1978, Helms successfully defended his seat against state Insurance Commissioner John Ingram in a low-turnout, off-year election. Helms received 619,151 votes (54.5 percent) to Ingram's 516,663 (45.5 percent). Ingram carried the strong support of President Jimmy Carter. The 1978 election would give Helms his largest margin of victory in his five Senate campaigns.

In 1984, in the most expensive Senate campaign up to that time, Helms narrowly defeated powerful two-term Governor Jim Hunt, thanks in part to then-President Ronald Reagan's support and popularity in North Carolina. Helms polled 1,156,768 (51.7 percent) to Hunt's 1,070,488 (47.8 percent). Although this was a solid victory against a formidable opponent, it should be noted that President Reagan carried the state with 62 percent of the vote, and GOP gubernatorial candidate James G. Martin won with 54 percent.

In both 1990 and 1996, Helms won against Harvey Gantt, the former mayor of Charlotte. Both campaigns attracted major national attention not only because of Helms' national prominence and controversial positions on many issues, but also because Gantt was an African-American whose liberal political views provided a stark contrast to Helms. Helms' 1990 victory has been partially credited to a late-running television commercial that urged white voters to reject Gantt because of the Democratic candidate's support for affirmative action programs. The ad showed a white man's hands ripping up a rejection notice from a company that had not hired him due to affirmative action policies that had given the job to "less qualified minority". It was criticized for its perceived subliminal content; As the hands crumple it up, for a fraction of a second the letter fades to a picture of Mr.Gant and the hands appear to be crushing his head. The advert was produced by Alex Castellanos, who would in 2000 again come under fire for making an Bush campagin advert criticizing Al Gore's healthcare policies and flashing the word 'RATS' over the top of it. [2]
The ad was the brainchild of Dick Morris, who in the 1990s would become a key political adviser to President Bill Clinton. Helms won the 1990 election by 1,087,331 votes (52.5 percent) to Gantt's 981,573 (47.4 percent). In his 1990 victory statement, Helms mocked the major North Carolina newspapers for their unhappiness over his victory, quoting a line from "Casey at the Bat": "There's no joy in Mudville tonight."

In 1996, Helms drew 1,345,833 (52.6 percent) to Gantt's 1,173,875 (45.9 percent). Helms supported his former Senate colleague Bob Dole for president, while Gantt endorsed Bill Clinton.

Although Helms is generally credited with being the most successful Republican politician in North Carolina history, his largest proportion of the vote in any of his five elections was 54.5 percent.

In North Carolina Helms was a polarizing figure, and he freely admitted that many people in the state strongly disliked him: "They (the Democrats) could nominate Mortimer Snerd and he'd automatically get 45 percent of the vote." Helms was particularly popular among older, conservative constituents and was considered one of the last "Old South" politicians to have served in the Senate. However, he also considered himself a voice of conservative youth, whom he hailed in the dedication of his autobiography. He is widely credited with helping to move North Carolina from a one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party into a competitive two-party state that usually votes Republican in presidential elections. Under Helms' banner, many conservative Democrats in eastern North Carolina switched parties and began to vote increasingly Republican. (From wikipedia)

You should understand two things: If Jesse told you something… you could take it to the bank! Secondly: If you did not want his honest opinion… then you shouldn’t ask for it.

Over the years I have been in meetings with Senator Helms and NC democrats. It was like “Old Home Week”. There was a mutual respect between them that had to be witnessed to believe. They addressed him as “Jesse” … and he LIKED that.

You must understand the native North Carolinian’s approach to politics. Native North Carolinians are basically conservative. Even the democrats who, more often than not, “inherited” their democrat label at birth right (along with their names) are conservative. Conservative democrats, in both Carolinas, is the norm. At least it was until the last 10 to 20 years. NC has had a great influx of “northern” democrats who tend to be more like, or at least relect, their sterotype… liberal. It created a huge culture shock for both the “transplants” as well as for native Tar Heels. This “spike” in liberalism in NC only increased the resolve of the native conservative democrats. It created a certain tension within the ranks of NC democrats that is very real and even palpable at times.

Jesse Helms understood that. As a former democrat, Jesse understood that the bulk of the “old line” NC democrats would support him… even when they wouldn’t publicly admit to it. His opponents, over the years, learned this, much to their chagrin, the “hard way”. No matter what THEY promised, the NC democrat voter BELIEVED Jesse helms… and they voted for him.

The thing you must remember is… democrats elected Jesse Helms and kept Jesse in office until HE decided to step down. There are simply not enough registered conservative republicans in the state to do that.

We trusted Jesse. If Jesse said white was black, then damnit, white WAS black! Contraray to many reports you will hear over the next few days, Jesse represented the huge majority of North Carolinians … even those who never voted in their lives.

Jesse Helms was, first and foremost, unabashedly southern! He was the quenticential “Southern Gentleman”.He was proud of his home, his heritage, his family, his culture, his faith, --- and --- of course, his state and his nation. He was deeply, passionately, in love with his country.

Jesse Helms dispised the United Nations. He did not pretend to support the UN, as so many of our national leaders do, because they feel, publicly, the US must remain a part of the UN to protect US interests. Jesse felt that was pure hypocracy. He called them as he saw them and he allowed the cips to fall where they might. Had he the power, he would have pulled the US out of the UN in a flash!

Jesse Helms was one of a kind. It is simply not enough to say: “He will be missed.” Jesse was missed the very day he left Washington! He cannot be replaced. There is no one like him. There will never BE anyone like him.

NC has lost a treasure. America has lost one of it’s most dedicated and loving sons. A vast, unfillable, void has been left where Jesse existed. He was a force for good, for excellence, and for all things patriotic.

I am sure that Jesse Helms is delighted that his soul took flight on the anniversary of America’s Declaration of Indepenence. I expect that his “owlish” countenance is beaming in a broad smile of pure pleasure that his passing will be noted in the history books as having ocurred on July 4th, 2008. ( I will not invite massive critcism here by noting that he will share the same “date of death” as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, two of our founding fathers. No, I won’t do that.)

As for me… I am proud to have known Jesse, to have been in the broadcasting industry, in NC, at the same time as Jesse --- and I feel priviledged to have had him represent me in the United States Senate.

Rest well, Jesse. You, sir, were a “good and faithful servant” to your God --- AND --- to your fellowman.

With deep respect, and an oath to always remember your service to your state and your country, I bid you fairwell and godspeed.



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conservative+Jesse+Helms+NC+US+UN+Freedom


Longstreet’s commentaries can now be found at “The Conservative Voice” at:
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/ and at: www.tcvdaily.com/ and at: “Family Security Matters” at: www.familysecuritymatters.org and at “News By Us” at: www. http://newsbyus.com/ and at “Hurricane Alley… by Longstreet” at: www.dixican.wordpress.com/ (And more coming soon!)

Interestingly enough, if you're on a bluetooth headset, and you happen to have your phone in a purse sitting on your passenger seat and you drop the call at the same place every time, but yet it doesn't happen when you're on the handset itself, there's a good way around this.

Go buy yourself something to put the phone higher up than the seat. Basically elevation is the key.

The reasoning behind this is because sometimes there are handoffs between base stations that are a bit less optimized or are farther apart. The handoff actually is made usually, but based on geography and other physical interferers, there just isn't the signal strength when it's down low. So, just like WiFi where you should place antennas higher to gain more coverage, the same concept is true with cell phones on the receiving end just to increase the chance of less interference and less likelihood of going through RF holes.

Photo Credit: (ztephen)

Say a prayer or three for me today y’all. Light a candle, chant, dance naked in the sunlight I don’t care - just send me happy computer thoughts. The plug to my laptop finally said “oh HELL naw” and popped out when I disconnected it today. Does anyone know how to repair this problem, or am I going to have to suck it up and send it in?

See that piece of metal sticking out? Yeaaaah, that’s not supposed to be there. That’s supposed to be mounted in the laptop.

My current method of operation is to watch the battery drain, say a few choice words and try to wiggle the thing back into connecting properly. Most of the time I’m able to get and keep power to it. However, I’m going to be spending tomorrow making backups and moving things around juuust to be on the safe side.

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I was picking up subs at a surfside deli when the TV in the corner caught my eye. Onscreen, a horn-rimmed and dark-haired Jesse Helms clutched a podium as he railed against something or another.I grabbed some extra napkins and headed for the door, happy again not to be in the newsroom. But back on the beach, I found I couldn't escape the shadow cast by this man's passing. Jesse Helms: polarizing patriarch, Southern-fried icon, one-time face of the Old North State, patron saint of racist assholes everywhere. Were it only that simple...

I came of age in the 80's. By then Helms was a local legend of course, but in my little circle of dirt I didn't give him much thought. Never all that politically astute, I lived a full, young life without ever forming an opinion on him one way or another. It wasn't until later that I realized my least favorite playmates called him 'Uncle' Jesse. Small-minded and ball-capped, the redneck junior set parroted the dogmatic bromides they no doubt heard at home. Dismissing them as simple, I was as convinced their hero was a cretin as I was certain that David Bowie was really, really, really cool. It wasn't until years later, however, that I realized how far Jesse's legacy had traveled. Fresh aboard my first Navy vessel, I found most of my shipmates from up North identified my beloved state with the laser-focused fanaticism of Senator Helms. Of course, I fought this stereotype by quoting Ziggy Stardust lyrics and deconstructing Andy Griffith episodes, but more than a few salts remained unconvinced.

Fast forward several years. Thousands of angry tobacco growers stormed the very steps nation's capitol in a nicotine-drenched protest of President Clinton's plan to hike the tax on cigarettes. There amid the throng of Carrharts and camouflage, a young punk with a fancycam on his shoulder paced, fidgeted and wondered why he wasn't allowed to use his tripod. Before I could figure it out however, the Friends of Tobacco lost their collective shit as none other than Jesse Helms stepped before the podium. On instinct, I centered my lens on him - but the sound of gnashing of teeth drowned out whatever message he brought the tobacco nation that day. Afterwards, Helms stuck around to shake hands and bless babies. Moving in, I shot footage of the Senator and his syncophants from just a few foot away until an opportunity presented itself. Signaling a print photographer friend, I took the Senator's hand in a friendly embrace and gave my best shit-eating grin as my buddy reluctantly triggered the shutter. I had great hopes for that photo, but my photographer friend never coughed it up. It occurs to me now he probably never pushed the button.

Less than eight years later, our paths would cross again at Senator Lauch Faircloth's campaign headquarters in Raleigh. It was election night and the avuncular Faircloth was getting his political ass handed to him on a hundred dollar plate by the far more telegenic John Edwards. The evening began as festive, with happy families clapping (almost) in time to a banjo-playing Uncle Sam band. But as the returns came in, the room went ugly. Soon the same pickled old ladies who'd just hours earlier toasted my lens, mouthed curses as I panned from them to the network feed of their defeat. With every update it became apparent to all that Lauch was going to have alot more time to spend with his grandkids. Smelling blood, even more camera crews arrived until the ballroom floor teemed with reporters, Republicans and other breeds of drunken fat-cat. Just when civilization threatened to collapse, a spotlight hit the stage and out rolled a gaunt and grinning Jesse Helms. The crowd began to mumble in tongues, acting in a manner I would witness one year later when another Jesse (by the name of Jackson) healed the woes of a hundred flood victims merely by showing up at their shelter. I didn't understand a damn word the marble-mouthed Helms said that night, but I credit his message with allowing me to escape unharmed.

And now, Jesse's dead. The pasty lawmaker with the familiar twang and wholesale derision of those unlike himself is explaining it all to his Maker. Try as I might though, I can't hate him. His naked campaigns against African Americans, Homosexuals and his political enemies still piss me off - even if I am more conservative than I ever would have dreamed. But the Senator who rose to power on the strength of his WRAL editorials has my begrudging respect - if only because of his mastery of the media. No North Carolina politician ever played the press as deftly as Jesse Helms. He knew his base and he knew how to get into their homes and hearts. That doesn't make him any less misdirected, but it does complicate his canon. I'm reminded of a piece Neill McNeill and I produced recently on Helms' latest biography. During the interview, author Bill Link confirmed my suspicion that the Senator everyone loved to hate deserved more than plain vitriol. Then Neill further muddied the waters with a back-scenes anecdote he shares here. Really now, can a man who stops to talk fancycams really be all that bad?

Don't bother answering; I'm on vacation...

My husband bought thirty-six, so I held back two for myself. I hadn't waved one in twenty-five years. Goodness, I've missed sparklers.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Local authorities asked residents not to fire their guns into the air to celebrate the Fourth of July. source Indeed.

The boys love Bolton pool. We alternated between the main pool and the sprayground for about three hours today. Surprisingly - and happily! - there wasn't a large crowd. Even better, the boys both left without complaint when a brief but drenching rain shower passed overhead. It would have been gold-star-sticker-fantastic if I hadn't left laundry on the line at home. Winston-Salem City Pools

Note

At the North Carolina Zoo

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Numerous items for you… QNotes has a brief story up now, with video from CNN and a poll. Expect a longer, feature article in the July 26, 2008 issue. Faith in America’s statement. The WRAL story. Helms worked here as a journalist and conservative commentator before moving to do his dirty deeds on the Senate floor. The N&O story.

Independence Day. Let’s celebrate.

Tomorrow will be one of those papers with the big story that tells people what they already know: Jesse Helms is dead. But it is a keeper because, regardless of what you think of him, Jesse was a pivotal figure in North Carolina politics. I listened to Helms as a television editorialist as I grew up in Raleigh and wasn't impressed with his rabid conservatism or racial views. That did not change as we both grew older. But his savviness as a politician -- and manager of the press -- cannot be denied. Through the years, I interviewed and spoke with Sen. Helms many times. He was always gracious and helpful. My first newspaper job was in Monroe, where Jesse's father had been police chief. He grew up there and went to Wingate College, which is also in Union County. While as a politician he castigated the liberal media, he was always kind to us at the Enquirer-Journal in Monroe. We actually felt pretty blessed politically because in addition to Helms, two other influential politicians -- Henry Hall Wilson and Skipper Bowles -- were born in Monroe. All are gone now.

Jesse Helms, 1921-2008. For better or worse, he was one of us. NYT, quotes via AP, BBC.

This Independence Day, amidst the hamburgers, the hotdogs, and the fireworks, I am taken back to grade school and the stories of what happened in Philadelphia 231 years ago. The men who signed the Declaration of Independence were simple men: farmers, doctors, store owners, bankers, lawyers, and judges; some were self-educated, but all were outlaws. Had their plan not worked, and the British had one the war, they would have been charged with treason and hanged. But they didn’t seem to care. They were determined to make a government for the people and by people; a government with a limited central control; a government where people had direct influence over its future; a government where people were free to worship; a government where people were free to protect themselves, their family, and their property; a government that protected those less fortunate; an envied government; a government with integrity.

So what happened to the revolutionary dream? What happened to "by the people for the people?" Why do we only elect career politicians with an Ivy League law degree? Why does the government insist on making itself “bigger and better?” What happened to personal freedoms and personal responsibility? We can’t pray in school, but we can murder a seven month old baby as she is being delivered. It is unconstitutional for us to say “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, but it’s not unconstitutional to stop a small group of political activists from putting a campaign ad in the local newspaper. And now, according to the Supreme Court, all property in America is ultimately owned by the government.

So where are the outlaws? Where are the Thomas Jeffersons, the John Adams, the Samuel Chase, the Ben Franklins, the Thomas Nelsons- where are the people who would risk life and limb for the protection of individual freedoms and property rights?

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor." Declaration of Independence, 1776

I was watching one of the morning news programs today reporting about Independence Day, and showing clips of various reenactments taking place of revolutionary times.  And while the imagery is always good, it occurred to me that those in the networks presenting these news programs, and many of the viewers, have little clue as to the principles upon which our nation was founded, and how far we have wandered away from those founding principles. 

It is still a great country.  But the founding fathers likely would be rolling in their graves if they knew what the nation has become.

When we were in California a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to visit the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley.  I had never been to California previously, and had told myself that if I ever went, I would make it a point to visit the museum.

We all remember when Reagan died several years ago.  It was a poignant scene when so many Americans lined the roads leading up the hill to the library site where his memorial services were held, in appreciation of what he had done for our nation and the world.

And the library/museum site is spectacular.  The setting is profoundly beautiful, and the complex itself is very impressive, with an attached hangar housing the Air Force One plane used when he was president.

We visited on a Monday, and I thought we were going to be among only a handful of visitors there.  But in fact the place had a large number of people touring the museum.  California apparently is still Reagan country.

Walking through the museum itself was an emotional experience.  This was not because anything depicted was particularly sad or tragic.  And yes, there were excellent depictions of Reagan's life, his policies and priorities interspersed among the various exhibits scattered through the museum.

But I found particularly striking the screens and monitors continuously dispensing Reagan's oratory.  The accompanying visual images and light background music, together with Reagan's voice, evoked feelings of love of country that nearly moved me to tears.

Reagan's people (including Mike Deaver) were always good at enhancing Reagan's speeches with an inspiring visual component.  But partaking these at the museum was like experiencing poetry and music and the 4th of July all wrapped into one.

Reagan got it.  He understood the nation's founding principles, and did what he could to move it back in that direction. 

There are enormous societal and media pressures constantly nudging us the wrong way, together with the impact of a national party that is quasi-socialist in nature.  There is a population that is much different attitudinally than the stock that made our country great.  And we have an economic, political, cultural-- and even in the long run, military-- environment that poses great risks.

At this particular moment, I think we need to be praying for our nation.

Rotation #162 - July 7, 2008
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Howdy,

Soul Jazz Records release a 2 volume set of soul songs from New Orleans called "New Orleans Funk - The Original Sound of Funk 1960-75" and I've been wallowing in it the past week. The bass lines are staggering. The horns are at their peak. And the grunts and growls and moans have are delivered like lyrics. I'm gonna be putting these songs into rotation for a long long time. You have been warned!

I finally got aroung to picking up Elvis Costello's latest Momfuku. According to the interwaeb (and you know if it's on the interweb it must be true), Momofuku refers to the name of the inventor of instant nodles ala Ramen Noodels fame. The name is supposedly a reflection of the fact that Elvis Costello has jumped on the quick song writing band wagon. You know writing the songs and arranging the music in sthe studio as you go along. Quick takes, mistakes and all, little to no post production. Momofuku shows what top notch musicians can do on their own without alot of technical asisstance. The only even remotely negative thing I can say about the CD is that maybe some of the songs kinda sound the same after a while. But there's plenty of good music on the CD. "Drum and Bone" is probably my favorite. Anyway, I highly recommend the CD if you're into that jangly roots rock sound that he's famous for.

In the mail this week I received the latest Kimmie Rhodes' CD, Walls Fall Down. She's kind of a fixture of the Austin music scene and has done a lot of work with Willie Nelson. She sounds to me a bit like Tift Merrit crossed with Kasey Chanbers. The best part of the music is her high feminine voice which is always at the center of the music. Whlie she's got some good original songs, notably the title track and "Shining Like A Sun." But by far my favorit track is the cover of Townes Van Zandt's "If I Needed You."

I finally caught up with the rest of the world and picked up the Band Of Heathens CD. I'd always thought of them as an Austin band, but there many references to places in Canada so now I'm not so sure. In any case, the self-titled CD is full of good wide open spaces rock kinda like what you'd hear from The Silos. But the surprise to me was how many of the songs have a bluesy new Orleans base to them. "Second Line" is a good example as well as "Jackson Station," and my favorite, "Cornbread."

I wanted to do something for the Fourth of July but didn't want to fill the week with hours and hours of patriotic music because most of the week would be after the 4th. but I am including in rotation this week Jack Ingram's "Red White and Blues," which I think strikes a perfect balance of being patriotic yet real-world and non-cheesy. Just goes to show you how good a song writer Jack Ingram is, IMHO.


Dig Deep,
Calvin

Video

"Jaclson Station" by The Band Of Heathens

Recent Adds:

Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further / Lee Dorsey / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 3:04
Hercules / Aaron Neville / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 4:12
I've Got Reasons / Mary Jane Hooper / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:34
Get Out Of My Life Woman / Allen Toussaint / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 3:04
Tell Me What's On Your Mind / Cyril Neville / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:09
Handa Wanda / Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolia Mardi Gras Indian Band / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 3:17
Love Lots Of Lovin' / Lee Dorsey & Betty Harris / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:59
Garden Of Four Trees / The Explosions / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:42
Dap Walk / Ernie & The Top Notes / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 3:09
Just Kissed My Baby / The Meters / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 4:40
Reborn / Marilyn Barbarin / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:26
Mama Roux / Dr. John / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:59
Natural Soul Brother / Danny White / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:20
Hook 'N' Sling, Pt. 2 / Eddie Bo / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:20
Hip-Huggin / Robert Parker / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 2:43

If It's Good For You (It's Good For You) / Eddie Bo / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:29
Right Place, Wrong Time / Ray J / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:55
Show It / Betty Harris / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:55
Four Corners [Part 2] / Lee Dorsey / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:51
You Keep Me Hangin' On / Bonnie & Sheila / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:42
Street Parade / Earl King / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 3:13
Mama Said We Can't Get Married / Warren Lee / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:54
12 Red Roses / Betty Harris / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:31
I'm Mr Big Stuff / Jimmy Hicks / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:33
Funky Bell / Warren Lee / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 3:03
Bo Diddley / Art Neville / New Orleans Funk Vol.2 / 2:42


Walls Fall Down / Kimmie Rhodes / Walls Fall Down / 4:20
If I Needed You / Kimmie Rhodes / Walls Fall Down / 4:21
Sex & Gasoline / Kimmie Rhodes / Walls Fall Down / 4:22
Shining Like A Sun / Kimmie Rhodes / Walls Fall Down / 2:25

We're All In This Together / Jack Ingram / Live At Billy Bob's Texas / 3:46
Flutter / Jack Ingram / Live At Billy Bob's Texas / 3:36
Red, White & Blues / Jack Ingram / Live At Billy Bob's Texas / 2:50
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke (And Loud, Loud Music) / Jack Ingram / Live At Billy Bob's Texas / 4:51
I Won't Go With Her / Jack Ingram / Live At Billy Bob's Texas / 4:01

No Hiding Place / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 4:00
American Gangster Time / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 3:47
Drum And Bone / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 2:36
Flutter And Wow / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 4:24
Stella Hurt / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 4:46
Go Away / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 4:55

Don't Call On Me / Band Of Heathens / The Band Of Heathens / 5:16
Jackson Station / Band Of Heathens / The Band Of Heathens / 3:51
Second Line / Band Of Heathens / The Band Of Heathens / 3:45
Unsleeping Eye / Band Of Heathens / The Band Of Heathens / 4:48
Cornbread / Band Of Heathens / The Band Of Heathens / 4:43

This Week's Focus Tracks:

Don't Call On Me / Band Of Heathens / The Band Of Heathens / 5:16
No Hiding Place / Elvis Costello & The Imposters / Momofuku / 4:00
Walls Fall Down / Kimmie Rhodes / Walls Fall Down / 4:20
Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further / Lee Dorsey / New Orleans Funk: New Orleans - The Original Sound Of Funk 1960-75 / 3:04
Waitin' For Some Girl / Ry Cooder / I, Flathead / 3:49
The Screamin' Hollar Inn / Paul Evans / Agua Noir / 5:13
Gold / Emmylou Harris / All I Intended To Be / 3:32
Six Days On The Road / Mudcrutch / Mudcrutch / 3:28
Love A Little More / Jim Stringer & The AM Band / Triskaidekaphilia / 2:23
Lorena / R.G. Stark / Not Crazy Tonight / 3:19
Don't You Mind People Grinnin' In Your Face / Guy Forsyth / Calico Girl / 2:22
Woman On The Interstate / Yarn / Yarn / 3:42
Dirty Things / Mike Zito / Today / 4:06
Runaway Train / Eliza Gilkyson / Beautiful World / 4:21
Love Me Love You / The Loose Acoustic Trio / Sorrow Be Gone / 3:18
Rendezvous For The Bayou / Tab Benoit / Night Train To Nashville / 6:47
Hallowed Ground / I See Hawks In L.A. / Hallowed Ground / 4:25
She's Gone / Langhorne Slim / Langhorne Slim / 3:19
Willie And Laura Mae Jones / Shelby Lynne / Just A Little Lovin' / 4:10
Freeway View / James McMurtry / Just Us Kids / 3:38
Sad Stories / The Mountain Firework Company / Samurai / 6:13
Rockin' Bones / Flat Duo Jets / Two Headed Cow / 2:59
Mississippi Flatland Blues / Eden Brent / Mississippi Number One / 3:14
Hey Little Darlin / The Wilders / Someone's Got To Pay / 3:34
It's A Shame / Hayes Carll / Trouble In Mind / 3:48
Man With No Country / Flogging Molly / Float / 3:04
Success / Kelly Willis / Translated From Love / 3:45
God's Got It / The Black Crowes / Warpaint / 3:22
Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) / Robert Plant & Alison Krauss / Raising Sand / 3:34
Walking To New Orleans / Neil Young / Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino (Disc 2) / 3:15

DJ/Promo Tracks:

Lie No Better / JD & The Straight Shot / Right On Time / 3:36
New Twist On An Old Groove / Rebecca Lynn Howard / No Rules / 3:49
Unrequited Love / Girls Guns And Glory / Inverted Valentine / 3:46
Sky Blue Sky / Wilco / Sky Blue Sky / 3:24
Don't Hit Me No More / Mable John / Stax 1959-1968 #8 / 2:50
In The Middle of It All / Irma Thomas / After The Rain / 4:46
Cluck Old Hen / Mark Lemhouse / The Great American Yard Sale / 4:39
Joy / Bettye LaVette / I've Got My Own Hell to Raise / 3:56
Cryin' Dime / Malcolm Holcombe / Not Forgotten / 3:38
Does My Ring Burn Your Finger / Buddy Miller / No Depression: What It Sounds Like, Vol. 1 / 3:16

Backfill:

Good Golly Miss Molly / Jerry Lee Lewis / Live At The Star-Club, Hamburg / 2:21
One Moment / Jon Dee Graham / New West Records 1 / 3:21
Fake It / Abe Reid & The Spikedrivers / Caution: Falling Boogie / 3:55
Sleepin' on the Job of Love / Robbie Fulks / The Very Best Of Robbie Fulks / 2:10
Dancing With The Women At The Bar / Whiskeytown / Strangers Almanac / 4:39
I Ain't Ready For Love / Joe Swank and the Mule Skinner Band / Cowpunk! / 2:10
Little Talk With Jesus / The Brothers In The Kitchen / Bring It Back Alive / 3:03
Look Out Heart / Rubin Russell / Bullet/Sur-Speed Soul:Music City Blues & Soul 1960's / 1:59
Dissatisfied / Kevin Gordon / Cadillac Jack's #1 Son / 4:55
Mardi Gras Jig / The Bluerunners / Honey Slides / 2:06
Wishbone / Slaid Cleaves / KGSR Broadcasts Volume 12 / 3:35
Marie Laveau / Dr. John / N'awlinz: Dis, Dat Or D'Udda / 6:49
I've Lost My Heart To You / Dexter Romweber / Blues That Defy My Soul / 2:49
Blackberry / The Black Crowes / Three Snakes And One Charm / 3:27
I Flew Over Our House Last Night / Two Dollar Pistols / On Down The Track / 3:54
Poke Salad Annie / Captain Luke and Cool John / Outsider Lounge Music / 4:49
Old Five And Dimers Like Me / Billy Joe Shaver / Restless Wind: The Legendary Billy Joe Shaver 1973-1987 / 2:45
Stars In My Life / The Flatlanders / More A Legend Than A Band / 3:03
Around And Around / Chuck Berry / From Clarksdale to Cleveland Vol.1 The Roadhouse / 2:33
Last To Know / The Jayhawks / Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo / 5:08

Last Week's Focus Tracks:

Drive Like I Never Been Hurt / Ry Cooder / I, Flathead / 4:08
As I Cry My Broken Heart To Sleep / Paul Evans / Agua Noir / 3:21
Broken Man's Lament / Emmylou Harris / All I Intended To Be / 5:05
Orphan Of The Storm / Mudcrutch / Mudcrutch / 4:07
Come A Little Bit Closer / Jim Stringer & The AM Band / Triskaidekaphilia / 2:49
Narcocorrido Nuevo Laredo / R.G. Stark / Not Crazy Tonight / 3:02
Fire In The Hole / Swampdawamp / Swampdawamp 2.0 / 3:43
Shark Out Of Water / Blind Willies / Everybody's Looking For A Meal / 4:04
Calico Girl / Guy Forsyth / Calico Girl / 4:20
Let It Fall / Birds And Arrows / Debut (Cages And Quivers?) / 4:03
The Contender / Yarn / Yarn / 2:45
Universe / Mike Zito / Today / 7:00
Emerald Street / Eliza Gilkyson / Beautiful World / 3:46
You Are The One / The Loose Acoustic Trio / Sorrow Be Gone / 3:02
Fever For The Bayou / Tab Benoit / Night Train To Nashville / 3:35
Highway Down / I See Hawks In L.A. / Hallowed Ground / 5:14
Sometimes / Langhorne Slim / Langhorne Slim / 3:07
Breakfast In Bed / Shelby Lynne / Just A Little Lovin' / 3:23
Samurai / The Mountain Firework Company / Samurai / 4:14
Itty Bitty Everything / Flat Duo Jets / Two Headed Cow / 2:48
The Man I Love / Eden Brent / Mississippi Number One / 4:10
Drunken Poet's Dream / Hayes Carll / Trouble In Mind / 3:29
Locust Street / The Black Crowes / Warpaint / 4:14
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us / Robert Plant & Alison Krauss / Raising Sand / 3:25
Honey Chile / Lucinda Williams / Goin' Home: A Tribute To Fats Domino (Disc 2) / 2:20
Baby Likes A Love Song / Malcolm Holcombe / Gamblin' House / 3:11
I'm Gonna Sit On The Porch And Pick On My Old Guitar / Damon Bramblett / Dressed In Black: A Tribute To Johnny Cash / 2:44
How Will You Shine / The Gourds / KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 15 (Disc 2) / 5:23
Peroxide Blonde In A Hopped Model Ford / Brian Setzer And The Nashvillains / Red Hot & Live! / 3:16
Methamphetamine / Son Volt / The Search / 4:03

Archive:

Talkin' 'Bout New Orleans / Neville, Cyril & Tribe 13 / KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 15 (Disc 1) / 3:28
Down Home Girl / Old Crow Medicine Show / Old Crow Medicine Show - Big Iron World / 3:48
Rolling In My Sweet Baby's Arms (Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms) / Steve Levitt / Old Town School Of Folk Music Songbook Volume Two & Three (Disc 2) / 3:25
Broken Whiskey Glass / Jason & The Nashville Scorchers / Reckless Country Soul / 2:22
Spanky / The Gourds / Best Of The Boots 2004 #1 / 2:27
Cornershops And Subway Trains / Jon Shain / Army Jacket Winter / 3:08
It Ain't Me, Babe / Bob Dylan / The Essential Bob Dylan / 3:35
Help You Dream / The Blasters / Live: Going Home / 4:49
Standing On The Corner / Michael Liggins / Eccentric Soul: Mighty Mike Lenaburg / 2:19
Keeping Score / The Silos / Come On Like The Fast Lane / 4:53
Fare You Well, My Darling / Elizabeth Cotten / Shake Sugaree / 2:03
I Know / Kim Richey / Oxford American 2000 / 3:16
You and Me, Me and You / B.B. King / Love Me Tender / 3:11
Redneck / Swamp Dogg / The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg, Vol. 1 / 2:50
Please Just Say So / Sir Douglas Quintet / The Prime of Sir Douglas Quintet / 2:26
Things That You Know / The Wailin' Jennys / Our Side Of Town: A Red House Records 25th Year Collection / 3:47
Bad Time / The Jayhawks / Tomorrow The Green Grass / 3:28
El Centro County Line / Hideaway / The Wiskey Tango Sessions / 4:04
We Are The Maurauders / Brian Setzer / 13 [Bonus Track] / 2:29
Chaos Streams / Son Volt / Okemah And The Melody Of Riot / 3:53
Standin' In The Rain / Bessie Smith / Members Edition / 2:53
Ghost Of A Bad Idea / Birds And Arrows / Debut (Cages And Quivers?) / 2:38
Little Honey / Dave Alvin / King of California / 5:10
Wildwood In The Pines / Johnny Cash / Personal File / 2:42
I Gotta Get Drunk / Willie Nelson / Willie And Family Live - # 2 / 1:22
I'll Never Let You Go / James Brown / Pure Dynamite! / 2:16
Long Way to Hollywood / Steve Young / Oxford American 2001 / 3:59
Shady Groove / Colby Maddox / Old Town School of Folk Music Songbook Volume One / 3:43
Niki Hoeky / Proby, P.J. / Oxford American 2003 (#6) / 2:29
Water Or Gasoline / Kevin Gordon / Down To The Well / 4:16
Bears / Lyle Lovett / Step Inside This House (Disc 1) / 3:05
Goodbye Daughters Of The Revolution / The Black Crowes / Warpaint / 5:03
Old Time Tickin' Away / Marah / Angels Of Destruction / 2:38
The Part of You / Lou Ford / Carolina Roadkill: NC Alt-Country #2 / 3:34
The Day John Henry Died / Drive-By Truckers / The Dirty South / 3:49
If It Takes All Night / Jake Brennan And The Confidence Men / Love And Bombs / 3:07
Hard And It's Hard (Hard, Ain't It Hard) / Katherine Hall / Old Town School Of Folk Music Songbook Volume Two & Three (Disc 2) / 3:48
My Way / Los Lonely Boys / KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 15 (Disc 1) / 4:43
One of These Days / Cross Canadian Ragweed / Highway 377 / 4:02
Manifesto No. 2 / Shooter Jennings / Electric Rodeo / 2:10
Ichabod! / Th' Legendary Shack Shakers / Pandelirium / 3:16
Blue Moon Of Kentucky (10/16/1954 12:00:00 AM) / Elvis Presley / Elvis At the Hayride / 2:31
I Gotta Get Drunk / The Little Willies / The Little Willies / 2:28
Gates Of Hell / David Childers / Known On The Underground / 4:03
If You Want Me To / Deadstring Brothers / Silver Mountain / 4:33
Something's Got A Hold On Me / Etta James / Gold / 2:50
Single Again / Gary Stewart / Oxford American 2006 Sampler / 3:06
Mother Hubbard's Blues / Ray Wylie Hubbard / Snake Farm / 3:10
Lookin' Out My Back Door / Creedence Clearwater Revival / Chronicle, Vol. 1 / 2:33
Tattered And Torn / Tom Eure / Back Woods / 4:02
Walkin' And Talkin' / Bo Diddley / Royal Blues / 2:41
Life Is A Carnival / The Band / Greatest Hits / 3:58
Money (That's What I Want) / Junior Walker & The All Stars / Ultimate Collection / 4:34
The Nickel / Mike Reno Harrell / Known On The Underground / 5:24
Good, Good, Good / Beaver Nelson / Motion / 4:08
It's Worth Anything / Earl Gaines / Nashville's Got The Beat / 2:37
Turn This Car Around / Tom Petty / Highway Companion / 3:59
Cash Me In / Choosy Beggars / Choosy Beggars / 4:12
Maybellene / Chuck Berry / The Definitive Collection / 2:22
Poison / Grayson Capps / Wail & Ride / 3:22

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

— John Hancock

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

Connecticut:
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

New York:
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

New Jersey:
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross

Delaware:
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

Maryland:
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton

North Carolina:
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

On May 24, 2008, the VFW National and NC State arrived in force at Charlotte NC’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway to watch Cale Gale race the VFW #77 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in NASCARS  Carquest Auto Parts 300. VFW National  Senior Vice Commander-in-Chief Glen Gardner, NC State Commander John Shelander, the State Color Guard, and many others met with Retired Redskins coach and NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs at the speedway. Because of an oil pan puncture, VFW’s #77 finished a disappointing 30th. Below are some of the photos taken at the speedway. (Click on the pictures to enlarge them.)

Well then you are in luck, my friend, because this one is for sale! And it comes with a really cool, little stone bungalow! AND MUSCADINE VINES! Swoon! I've never actually seen a stone bungalow before. The exterior is very pleasing. more pictures (but still no interior shots, sadly)

As we celebrate the 232nd anniversary of our nation's independence, let us pause to remember the victories in battle and the blood that was shed to preserve our freedoms. Let us give thanks to our forefathers for their vision of liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness. Most importantly, let us pay tribute to our nation's greatest assets: our servicemen and servicewomen in uniform who so proudly serve our nation in peace and defend our freedoms in war. We salute you for your dedication to duty and service to country. Thank you from the 2.4 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Auxiliaries. God bless America. George Lisicki VFW Commander-in-Chief

Juan Antonio Giner over at Innovations in Newspapers often posts photographs of newsrooms, both current and historic. Here's one unearthed from our archives that could serve as the beginning of a new series. That's reporter Dawn DeCwikiel-Kane and me in our younger days, although somehow Dawn still looks the same today and I have no mustache and less hair on top of my head. Much less hair. But anyway, that's not what this is about. This photo was taken at a company strategic retreat at least 10 years ago. Beer? We were drinking alcoholic beverages on company time on the company dime? In front of God and everybody? Boy, has that policy ever changed. Hmmm, is it just a coincidence that newspapers were strong and dominant then, too?

Five years ago, a call for more liberty on Independence Day: "Liberty is going to have to mean letting other people do things you don't approve of. If you want to smoke dope and your neighbor wants to smoke cigarettes...

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

{summary}Sorry about that.  Apparently, by “tomorrow” I really meant “as soon as I’m wakeful enough to write in complete sentences.” Trust me, this has been one of those zero productivity weeks (oy vey).  I spent most of my time at work this week haunting the halls and lowering everyone else’s productivity even further than already being achieved.  (Everyone on my hall is either sick or exhausted.  I’m both.  And I have a toddler.) To continue where I left off/fell asleep, we took 64 straight to the coast which was moderately depressing for me.  Before my grandmother moved up to Virginia I would take 64 and hop off on 17 to go home.  It used to be that you had to go through traffic in Williamston to get back on 64 but now you can basically bypass it and with a couple of slight turns continue on your way.  It bothered me to be that close to “home” and to not go.  Anyway.  *sniffle.* We rolled into the outer banks at around four-ish (I think...hopefully Carly or Elysia can support that with some convincing testimony).  Anyway, it was still light out and a couple of hours before dinner, so I’m guessing it was four o’clock.  Elysia had reserved us a group site at the Oregon Inlet campground which is a National Park Service site.  It could accomodate 30 people which sounds like a lot, but when most of them are children you don’t notice so much.  (Incidentally, someone made the awesome suggestion that next time, since NPS considers a “group” to be seven people, that we should reserve all the adjacent group sites and take over the place.) Because we had about ten families there (and eleven or so tents), we were sort of on top of each other.  (The handy-dandy park ranger could have told us where our site boundaries were before we pitched and that would have been helpful, but I digress.) Nags Head is a narrow little piece of land, so if you’re in decent shape you can walk from one side of the island to the next in no time.  From our campsite, we had access to the Albemarle Sound’s more shallow, still water on one side (with a bit of a drive) and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.  If you could climb the dunes, you’ve got beach. Scott pitched our tent right next to the sandy pit.  We had a brief argument about which direction the door flap should face and I let him do it his way because at that point I was too tired to argue.  He thought I was being retarded and faced it towards the road for privacy reasons (I suppose). I thought that we should have turned it 90 degrees so that we wouldn’t have sand as a doormat, but oh well.  Turns out Rosco loves to eat sand.  Yay for sandy poop. It took some doing to get our tent up in the wind.  [Incidentally, we bought this piece of crap (yes, that 3-star review is mine).] After Carly figured out how to get her Vela up, she helped Scott put ours up.  [Carly has already returned hers to Dick’s for a refund.] By the time that was done, folks were ready to chow (drink, in my case) and someone started lighting up charcoal.  I gave Ro a peanut butter sandwich and some fruit for dinner and tried to get him down to sleep at his usual bedtime.  As it was still light out and there was so much activity going on outside the tent he rebelled as only toddlers can.  I really wanted him to just lay on the air mattress, close his eyes, and drift off so I could sit outside the tent with a beer and book, but he needed/wanted to be babysat.  Every time I tried to peel myself off the air mattress he thought it was some splendid game where he should jump up and follow me.  I believe I must have said, “Rosco,lay down, please!” about one trillion times.  He would put his head down obediently, and then spring up again as soon as I looked away.  So.  I gave up and left the tent to finish what was left of my spilled-over beer and let Scott coordinate his tantrums for a while.  Eventually, they both just went to sleep and I followed not too long after because I was about to pass out in my chair. “Tomorrow”: Part C - At the Sea

[Adopted in Congress 4 July 1776]

The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy of the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levey war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Filed under:

conservative+Freedom

There's always something about Internet type movies that I really like. It's usually amusing to see how everything is so "easy" and GUI based.

This particular movie was about how an FBI agent chased after cybercrimes on the Internet, and would seemingly have this really easy way of doing everything with fake accounts to catch hackers and script kiddies. Yet, there is this one psychopath that starts up a website called "killwithme.com" and the more people that log onto it, the faster the people that are displayed on there die a horrific death. So in essence, the people that were viewing the website would in fact play a part in the death of the person.

The whole premise of the movie was that this guy was amazing with his DNS re-routes and would have everything mirrored in Russian sites so that if one was shut down, another one was redirected so the live stream would continue. What's interesting is that in reality, the domain itself would be the single point of failure. Unless domain servers were poisoned, this would fix the entire issue.

All in all, Untraceable wasn't a bad flick outside of the technicalities. It held me enough to watch the rest of it, although it didn't wow me on any plot twists or what not. Pretty much typical thriller movie and rather predictable after you get most of facts of who's who.

A thing to remember when you take a cruise.

If you're crossing international waters, don't be fooled into thinking that just because you have bars on your phone, that it's going to be a local call. If you cross international borders and you're using the base stations that are roaming in say, the Bahamas or the Virgin Islands, then you'll be paying for it through the nose with international roaming charges.

And believe me, most people don't know it until they see the bill. And there's nothing that the cruise line can do about it since it's tied to your cellular carrier. The last international plan that I looked at a long time ago was AT&T's World phone plan, and it wasn't cheap. Which should give you an inkling of what international roaming would cost.

Sprint's cruise ship roaming costs $2.49 a minute. If you have an international phone roaming plan, then it'll vary from country to country, but it seems like it's about $2USD a minute on average. Why is this a killer on the pocketbook? Before my recent vacation to the Virgin Islands, I checked with Royal Caribbean on roaming. The agent told me that it's been a while since she's had a call about the roaming charges, but she had a distraught customer that had racked up a $1400USD phone bill. Unfortunately, RCL couldn't do anything about it even if they wanted to since it's based on the carrier the customer was with at the time.

So just know the lines you cross. Don't want a huge bill waiting for you when you get back home since you had great coverage and thought you were okay to call.

Photo Credit: (the queen of subtle)

His name was Eddie Graham Vaughan Jr., but the family always called him Little Eddie to distinguish him from his dad, Eddie Sr. Of course, by the time he became a young man, that nickname was a major misnomer. He was tall, with an imposing physique — you could imagine him crushing a beer keg [...]

The words of Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826): A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies. Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption

Something like this comes along...

Durham, N.C. -- Police charged a third person Wednesday in connection with beatings and rape that authorities say were carried out by a satanic cult.

Diana Palmer, 44, of Cottage Woods Court, surrendered to police Wednesday afternoon. She was charged with being an accessory after the fact of assault with a deadly weapon and was being held in the Durham County Jail.

Palmer posted $30,000 bond Wednesday and was released from jail.

Joseph Craig, 25, has been charged with kidnapping, rape, forcible sexual offense and assault in the case. His wife, Joy Johnson, 30, has been charged with aiding and abetting. Both were being held Wednesday in the Durham County Jail.

The couple was arrested last week after a man and a woman told police they were beaten, shackled to beds, kept in dog cages and starved inside a home on Albany Street. Craig is accused of committing the crimes while his wife watched.

...

Palmer is first vice chair of the Durham County Democratic Party. Johnson resigned her positions as third vice-chair of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice-chair of the Young Democrats following her arrest.

"Diana is extraordinarily trusting and caring. I don't think she would ever knowingly do anything wrong," county party Chairman Kevin Farmer said.

State Sen. Floyd McKissick, D-Durham, called the case "an isolated incident" and said he doesn't expect any other Democratic Party activists to be implicated.

The county party's Web site was disabled Wednesday, but Farmer said that was related to a technical problem and not the allegations against Palmer and Johnson.

The self-titled Band Of Heathens is the group's third CD, but their first studio album. Based in Austin Texas and composed of musicians that play the Austin scen on a regular basis, it's no surprise that this CD is full of gritty Americana like the opening foot tapper, "Don't Call On Me." But they are at their best when they get into a Black Crowes inspired blues funk on songs like "Second Line," "Jackson Station" and "Cornbread."

If the myth is true, Elvis Costello's latest CD, Momofuku is named after the inventor of Ramen noodles and the image of noodles immediately appearing after adding hot water is apt because Costello is getting on the band wagon of recording songs fast, making them up in the studio as they go along, and not worrying about smoothing out the rough spots. As always, Costello's songs are one long rock-n-roll enigma, but they _sound_ so tight modern-yet-classic you just want to embrace the mystery rather than solve it. I enjoyed "No Hiding Place," "American Gangster Time," "Drum and Bone," "Flutter and Wow." The stand out tracks for me are "Stella Hurt," and "Go Away."

The upper photograph was taken in 1938 for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and identified simply as "Fryemont Office Building." The lower photograph was taken this week, seventy years after the first shot, and shows the current appearance of Everett Street, Bryson City, NC. The columned building on the left is the old Citizens Bank Building, constructed ca. 1900. According to a sign in the

Originally released in 2003, this is a live show featuring many of Jacks best country rock music. He covers his most well known tune, "Beat Up Ford" on this CD, but there are many other favorites here too including "We're All In This Together," "Flutter," "Red, White, and Blues," and "I Won't go With Her."

An import from Soul Jazz records covering some of the noted artists of the late 60's early 70's when soul music was starting to get less gospel tinged and more funky. Many strong tracks on this CD from artists like Eddie Bo, The Meters, Allen Toussaint, Warren Lee, Lee Dorsey, Inell Young, the Gaturs and two fantastic tracks from Betty Harris including, "Show It" and "12 Red Roses."

The Jerry Bledsoe series in the Rhino Times continues with further examination of claims made in the city legal report.  The following represents a summary. 

One subsection of the report deals with alleged "improper administrative pressure" exerted by David Wray and his men.  It was alleged that Wray inappropriately pressured his subordinates to "change their opinions on administrative findings, discipline and evaluations." 

The first instance cited is the case of Stacy Morton.  He was involved in stopping two men in a truck with several other officers at the scene.  He was alleged to have inappropriately struck one of the two men, after having left the other man handcuffed but unattended .  This incident had been discussed earlier in the series.

Eyewitness accounts, for instance, from the other officers-- the weight of the evidence-- suggested that Morton's actions were excessive.

Morton was charged with assault by the DA's office in the incident, but was acquitted after having been represented by defense attorney Joe Williams, the Simkins PAC principal who later also represented James Hinson for a period of time. 

David Wray felt this was a serious situation.  Morton's commander only recommended a suspension and a pay cut.  But Morton had not accepted responsibility or made any kind of admission.  Wray decided to fire him, and later reversed the decision of a departmental hearing process.  The information at that hearing was softened compared with what the investigative reports reflected.  That board elected to go with the original recommendations made by Morton's commander, Anita Holder Stalls. 

Blair Carr, the assistant city attorney, told Wray he would be justified in firing Morton.  But she later wrote in the city legal report that he exerted inappropriate pressure on Ms. Stalls.   Ultimately, Mitchell Johnson reversed Wray's decision. 

But Wray "was required to approve (Stalls') findings and had full authority to change them.  He expected a commander to discuss a matter such as this with him before making a decision and committing it to record."  But she did not.

It should be noted that Anita Holder Stalls was a member of the anti-Wray faction in the GPD command structure.

The city legal report also alleged that Wray pressured Tim Bellamy to reduce Holder's performance rating, and that Bellamy refused.  Wray said this was untrue.

The second incident the city legal report cites is an instance when Wray was alleged to have urged Capt. Tony Phifer (who is black) to increase discipline for a certain officer after all investigations had been closed.   It was with regard to another episode of alleged excessive force or possible assault.  

There was concern registered by Wray's detractors that a second criminal investigation was being pursued, but there had not even been an initial criminal investigation.  Wray, however, wanted Phifer to reevaluate the case with