The Blacksburg Shooter

Many issues have been raised by the recent horror at Virginia Tech, not the least of which is the glaring failure of gun control and the inability of our so-called government protectors to actually protect us while simultaneously denying us the means with which to defend ourselves.

The following passage from Pat Buchanan's most recent column struck a chord and reminded me of the times in my life when I stood up and took a stand against bad behavior and was told I needed to be more tolerant. As was pointed out by my friend Audie, in a recent series of emails shared by a group of former Zion rangers who keep in touch with one another, we were lucky that this type of thing never happened in our old dormitory because many of the freaks and misanthropes that we shared living quarters with had all of the tendencies and mannerisms shown by the Virginia Tech shooter.

If there is a lesson to be taken away from this horror, it is that we, as a society, are becoming too tolerant of the aberrant. For, in retrospect, the signs Cho was a disturbed and dangerous young man, who belonged not on a campus but in an institution, are many.

He stalked one girl until she complained to police. He e-mailed another until she, too, went to police. Cho was taken to a psychiatrist, who concluded he was a "danger to himself and to others." He wrote plays for a creative writing class so full of hate and violence they alarmed one teacher to the point where she pressed him to get counseling. Another teacher had demanded and gotten his removal from her class.

Suite-mates in Harper Hall found him so uncommunicative they thought he could not speak English. All those who lived with him seemed to know about him is that he never spoke, turned away when spoken to, watched TV, worked his word processor incessantly and went to the gym.

Though he spent four years on campus, no one knew who Cho was, which bespeaks a larger point. Colleges have grown into city-sized universities of tens of thousands, and have ceased to be communities, even as the United States is ceasing to be a country, a nation and a people.

We are told that is a good thing. We are ever admonished to respect differences, to be tolerant of what we might think of as bizarre behavior. We are told that among the worst of sins is to be judgmental about how others behave.

Multiculaturalism is what we are about. Diversity is our strength. All cultures, all people, all lifestyles are to be treated equally. At Blacksburg on Monday, we learned that there is such a thing as too much tolerance.

I Like Florida

Williford Spring

Well it's been a little over six months now and the verdict is in-----I like Florida! In fact I've become a bit of a homebody by not wanting to travel anywhere else but right here in the Sunshine State. It feels like home in ways that Utah never did.

For me it is the perfect blend of many of the things I love best: wild and rampant nature, the Deep South, a place with a long and colorful history, great thrift stores, Southeastern Conference football, sunny weather, laid back friendly people and a Wal-Mart wherever you need one.

Philosophically it is more in line with my libertarian views with its liberal gun laws, lower taxes (NO INCOME TAX!) and an easy going live and let live attitude that I found to be somewhat lacking in the Beehive State.

All in all I feel that I have found a happy home here in the land of alligators, sunshine and saw grass. If you haven't yet checked out my Florida blog site here's the link: http://www.naturalflorida.blogspot.com/

I hope y'all are as satisfied with your neck of the woods as I am with mine. Come Sunday I'll have been married five whole months!! That's been pretty fun too.

Tonight's sunset behind my house

Stinky's

While driving through the small beach community of Dune Allen, Florida we noticed this sign for a seafood restaurant. Now my question to you gentle readers is this: would any of y'all stop to eat at a place so named? I look forward to your answers and will forward the results of this survey to the owners after recieving a sufficent response. I thank you in advance.

Is there any type of business where the name Stinky's would be an asset?

Hot gases emanating

A few headlines from today show that the once unquestionable orthodoxy of global warming appears to be fraying at the edges and is not the sure fire (pardon the pun) path to doom it has been sold to be by politicians eager to gain power through fear.

We start with the fact that NYC is experiencing the coldest April, so far, in 113 years:

http://snipurl.com/1g27r

Then we have the following passage from, of all people on MY blog, Camille Paglia in the most current issue of Salon:

As a native of upstate New York, whose dramatic landscape was carved by the receding North American glacier 10,000 years ago, I have been contemplating the principle of climate change since I was a child. Niagara Falls, as well as the even bigger dry escarpment of Clark Reservation near Syracuse, is a memento left by the glacier. So is nearby Green Lakes State Park, with its mysteriously deep glacial pools. When I was 10, I lived with my family at the foot of a drumlin -- a long, undulating hill of murrain formed by eddies of the ancient glacier melt.

Geology and meteorology are fields that have always interested me and that I might well have entered, had I not been more attracted to art and culture. (My geology professor in college, in fact, asked me to consider geology as a career.) To conflate vast time frames with volatile daily change is a sublime exercise, bordering on the metaphysical.

However, I am a skeptic about what is currently called global warming. I have been highly suspicious for years about the political agenda that has slowly accrued around this issue. As a lapsed Catholic, I detest dogma in any area. Too many of my fellow Democrats seem peculiarly credulous at the moment, as if, having ground down organized religion into nonjudgmental, feel-good therapy, they are hungry for visions of apocalypse. From my perspective, virtually all of the major claims about global warming and its causes still remain to be proved.

Climate change, keyed to solar cycles, is built into Earth's system. Cooling and warming will go on forever. Slowly rising sea levels will at some point doubtless flood lower Manhattan and seaside houses everywhere from Cape Cod to Florida -- as happened to Native American encampments on those very shores. Human habitation is always fragile and provisional. People will migrate for the hills, as they have always done.

Who is impious enough to believe that Earth's contours are permanent? Our eyes are simply too slow to see the shift of tectonic plates that has raised the Himalayas and is dangling Los Angeles over an unstable fault. I began "Sexual Personae" (parodying the New Testament): "In the beginning was nature." And nature will survive us all. Man is too weak to permanently affect nature, which includes infinitely more than this tiny globe.

Next in line are some of my favorite targets, limosine liberals, in this case rock stars crusading against global warming in the current Live Earth concerts (from the Daily Mail of London):

.....But green campaigners called the stars' involvement hypocritical last night saying their lifestyles which demand they jet themselves and their huge entourages on world tours give them enormously large carbon footprints.

Last year, for example, they report how Madonna flew as many as 100 technicians, dancers, backing singers, managers and family members on a 56-date world tour in private jets and commercial airliners.

Madonna herself also has a collection of fuel-guzzling cars, including a Mercedes Maybach, two Range Rovers, Audi A8s and a Mini Cooper S. Yet she will headline the London concert to "combat the climate crisis".

Madonna's Confessions tour produced 440 tonnes of CO2 in four months of last year. And that was just the flights between the countries, not taking into account the truckloads of equipment needed, the power to stage such a show and the transport of all the thousands of fans getting to the gigs.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers produced 220 tonnes of CO2 with their private jet alone over six months on their last world tour which was 42 dates.

"The average a British person produces is 10 tonnes a year," said John Buckley, managing director-of CarbonFootprint.com.

He added: "It's great for the celebrities to come out and support the cause, but they then have to follow it up in their own lifestyles. We should now keep a close eye on whether Madonna and the others makes any changes to their own lifestyle."

Don't hold your breath!

We're okay for another day.....phew!

Rainbow at sunset

Whilst walking on the beach at dusk I witnessed a spectacular rainbow to the southeast and a stunning sunset to the southwest. Luckily I had camera in hand.........

Frank Llloyd Wright in Florida

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 - 1959)

Connie and I recently visited the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland to make an architectural pilgrimage to the largest concentration of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the world. Known as the "Child of the Sun" collection, these buildings were designed by Wright for "the cultural value of organic buildings well suited to time, purpose and place."

Annie Pfeiffer Chapel (1939 - 1941)

He was commissioned by this small Methodist college in 1938 to design "a great education temple in Florida". The actual construction took place between 1941-1958 with twelve structures being completed and six left on the drawing board. Many of the buildings have been altered over the years and others have required extensive repairs and rehabilitation. His architectural vision apparently did not match the building materials of his time, while the merciless central Florida climate has not been an ally in preservation either. Several of the structures were being worked on while we were visiting as part of a multi-million dollar project to restore Wright's unique vision of organic architecture, which is one where the structures do not dominate the land but work in harmony with it.

If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods I highly recommend that you check out this wonderful collection of offbeat and eclectic structures. There is an easy to use self-guided walking tour pamphlet available at the visitor center. Admission is free, which is always a bonus with me.

Covered walkways known as the Esplanades which total 1.5 miles in length. (1941 - 1958)

Hallway in the Polk County Science Building (1958)

Interior of the William H. Danforth Chapel (1955)

Stairway in the Science Building

The Esplanades with students walking underneath (1961).

Two years and counting

The second anniversary of this blog site is upon me and I wanted to say that it has been a most interesting ride so far. I thoroughly enjoy the means that it provides for sharing interesting things like news, views and travel as well as using it as a device with which to direct my readers to other places in cyberspace.

The most important work that I've tried to accomplish with this blog was to help get the word out about the renewal of bomb testing in Nevada, which some folks have claimed helped to get the whole protest movement rolling in southern Utah (although I'm clueless as to the veracity of that sentiment).

The most enjoyable aspects for me personally have been sharing my travels (and the gorgeous sunsets of Utah and Florida), as well as being able to write music reviews of albums and live shows and, of course, very serious game day analysis of the Georgia Bulldogs. It's like being the editor of my very own magazine without ever having to leave the confines of this comfortable office by the sea, in beautiful sunny Florida.

I thought I'd reprint the origin of the name of the blog, from my very first post, for all of you newer readers out there in cyberspace. Thanks for being there everyone, your feedback and heartfelt commentary has meant a lot to me over the years. I think of y'all every time I sit down to write a new post.

The title of the blog is a line from an old Dylan song I loved as a kid:

Buckets of rain
Buckets of tears
Got all these buckets comin' out of my ears.

I like buckets.

Puttering around the Panhandle

Hiking trail in the Appalachicola National Forest

We liked our Saturday trip to Alabama so much that we decided to try another jaunt on Sunday. This time we headed east into the wild interior of the central Florida Panhandle. From there we proceeded straight south to the Gulf coast and took a side trip on the causeway out to St. George Island.

This part of the state is very rural, containing vast sections of uninhabited swamp and forest land that is home to the Florida black bear and the rare pitcher plant. The overall feel is that of the Deep South, unaffected and unconcerned with the worries and cares of the modern world. Just hang out for a spell in front of the Piggly Wiggly and you'll see what I mean.

Appalachicola River from the 19th century remains of Fort Gadsen


Cypress bottoms in the river floodplain

Rare Florida pitcher plants (Sarracenia)


A house on the water in Eastpoint, FL


Beach at St. George Island State Park


Shells on St. George Island


Great Blue Heron

Sweet Home Alabama

Connie and I took a road trip today into that exotic and thoroughly southern place we call Alabama. We set out to do some hiking in the Conecuh National Forest but, as is always the case, stopped to see and do a lot more along the way. I wanted to share some pictures of this little jaunt and hope that the sight of spring in Dixie would make y'all as happy as it does for me.

Azaleas bloom next to a very old "cracker" style house

Saturday traffic in Florala

Old gas station sign
A quiet stroll through Magnolia Cemetery in Andalusia

Chopped pork and fries in Wing, Alabama

An exciting opportunity!

Crater caused by Flight 93
September 11, 2001

I ran across this vacancy announcement for a National Park Service administrative position at the rural field in Pennsylvania where Flight 93, of 9/11 fame, came crashing to the ground. Leave it to the federal government to create permanent bureaucracy out of profound catastrophe and death.

Here are some highlights from the actual vacancy announcement:

Flight 93 National Memorial (PA)
GS-7 Office Support Assistant

"This GS-7 position provides a unique and exciting opportunity to join the Flight 93 National Memorial team in the development and management of a memorial to the heroes of Flight 93 by providing all administrative and office management support at the park.

Maintains all accounting records, pays bills, reconciles status of funds, assists in preparation of budget documents for briefings, manages advisory commission meeting logistics, arranges and manages travel for staff and commission members, prepares personnel actions, procures supplies, serves as timekeeper for staff, and attends meetings and/or participates in conference calls with associated minute-taking.

Sensitivity, discretion, communication skills, a high degree of organization, attention to detail and procedures, and technological skills are all critical qualifications."

As soon as I think I've seen everything the universe goes and produces yet another government funded absurdity for my viewing pleasure.

So don't delay folks because the application window for this "unique and exciting opportunity" on the "Flight 93 Memorial team" closes soon.

Old Tampa Highway

Deep down in Florida

Last month I spent about ten days at our home in central Florida while doing tornado relief work for Christian Disaster Response. On my days off I went exploring in the immediate area adjacent to our house which borders one of the most beautiful wooded swamps I have ever laid eyes on. It is land owned by the Walt Disney Corporation and is the last large undeveloped parcel on the Disney World property.

After consulting some old maps I was able to find out that it has a name: the Reedy Creek Swamp. It is full of massive oaks, cypress, palms, bay trees, gums and tall stately pines. It is one of my favorite spots in all of Florida, with a breadth and majesty I can only compare to the western canyons and deserts that I formerly inhabited in another life.

In the depths of the Reedy Creek Swamp

From where our property abuts the swamp it stretches off to the south and east for many roadless miles. One day I got curious and checked some county maps to find out where I could locate an access point on the other side of this wide swath of jungle wilderness. While poking around in my car looking for a promising entry point, along the Osceola/Polk County line, I discovered a remnant of the old Tampa Highway that was still paved with bricks.

Old Tampa Highway

This one-mile stretch of 15 foot roadbed is what is left of the original road that crossed the Florida peninsula from Daytona Beach to Tampa. It was called, at various times, the Lee-Jackson Highway, Dixie Highway and the Central Florida Highway and was built in 1925. There are no historical markers pointing it out so it is a well hidden and little visited piece of yesteryear, only a few hundred yards from the bustle and noise of U.S. 92 to the east. It is hard to make out the original concrete edges, but you can see the asphalt widening and repairing that has been done over the years. It is still used by the locals who live in old tar paper shacks and double wides.

Close-up of the Old Tampa Highway

At the county line there is an old concrete marker that was put there in 1930 welcoming motorists to Polk County the Citrus Center of Florida, which it still is today. According to my research this is one of only three remaining in existence and was moved several times as the route was realigned and was finally placed here away from the main road for safe keeping.

Welcome to Polk County in 1930

You never know what you'll find when you're poking around the back roads and swamps of Dixie and that's why I'm always looking. This was definitely a very neat discovery. More on the swamp in a later post.

It Really Is An Emerald Coast

Seagrove Beach

I live in an area of Florida known as the Emerald Coast. The name is derived from the green to aquamarine color of the Gulf of Mexico along this stretch of coastline. Today the Gulf seemed most especially colorful on the beach behind our house and I just had to go down and take a few pictures to share with y'all.

I hope it's warming up wherever you are. Spring has sprung in Florida!

From the edge of the deep green sea.

A herring gull and laughing gull enjoy the afternoon surf.

George Jones Duets

The Possum

I recently purchased the Sony Legacy Edition of the long out of print George Jones duet record My Very Special Guests. This two-CD collection includes the original Columbia album, which was released in 1979, along with an additional 27 songs from various other albums and recording sessions that have come out since.

The remarkable thing about George Jones is that he is so multifaceted and able to blend in seamlessly with such a wide variety of artists and musical styles. There are the expected country star pairings with the likes of Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard but we also get to hear him perform with Elvis Costello, Pops and Mavis Staples, B.B. King and Dr. Hook.

My favorite song is his duet with Emmylou Harris on the Rodney Crowell penned Here We Are. This song never fails to send shivers up and down my spine and I'm finally glad to have it on CD because I've nearly worn out the grooves on my vinyl record version.

Elvis Costello wrote the song they sang together on this album especially for Jones (Stranger In The House) and it doesn't disappoint with the somber refrain: "There's a stranger in the house no one will ever see, But everybody says he looks like me." I sometimes think the English are almost more countrified in their sentiments than Americans.

Some other highlights include the hit song Bartender Blues written by and performed with James Taylor; the tender and bittersweet A Few Ole Country Boys with Randy Travis and the hauntingly beautiful mountain ballad Wonderful World Outside with Ralph Stanley.

These are by no means the only songs worthy of note but there are 37 pairings contained in this collection and I could be here all day telling you about all of 'em. Suffice it to say that this is a highly recommended George Jones album which you can now get on BMG for real cheap. If y'all enjoy listening to the music of the best country singer of all time than this is one not to miss out on.

Frank Sinatra was once quoted as saying that he thought that "George Jones is the best singer in the world........after me." Leave it to The Chairman to be ever so humble in his words and deeds.

The End Of Divine Strake.....For Now

Nevada Test Site, 1953

I got the news about the cancellation of Divine Strake while doing relief work in central Florida for recent tornado victims and have just now gotten around to posting a blog that I hope will adequately convey my heartfelt gratitude to all of the heroic souls that were involved in helping to prevent this hideous bomb test from ever occurring.

It was wonderful to see the diversity of people that came together to speak out about the unnecessary dangers this explosion would pose to the health and safety of the general public. I'd especially like to commend Springdale mayor Pat Cluff and the entire town council for having the courage to stand up and be the first governmental entity in the entire nation to just say NO. Their position made it much easier for St. George to follow suit, to be followed by Cedar City and then the entire government of Washington County. With the Utah, Nevada and Idaho legislatures preparing hearings over the issue it soon became clear to the warlords in DC that they had stirred up a hornets nest of opposition which caused them to eventually back down. For now.

I am thoroughly convinced that they are planning to test bombs in the Nevada desert once again, but for now we can all breathe a little easier.

We must never let our guard down when it comes to these evil maniacs. It is our civic duty to keep an ever vigilant eye on what they propose (supposedly on our behalf) to do to protect "freedom, justice and the American way."

From today's headlines, an article about plans for yet more new nuclear bombs:
http://www.startribune.com/484/story/1032348.html

Orlando Rant

I feel that from time to time I should be allowed to generalize and rant when the situation is harmless enough to warrant it. In this case the need to expound is derived from being stuck in the metropolitan environs of that swampy and overcrowded fiasco known as Orlando, Florida. I'm down here on business and will be glad when I can return to the civility and charm of my home in the Panhandle.

Anyway I say let the generalizations begin:

• There are too many people from northeastern states that are extremely un-courteous drivers and a menace to share the road with. Today I was tailgated by a shmuck from Pennsylvania, cut-off by a jerk from Maine and gestured at wildly by a maniac from Massachusetts. My offense, in the wild eyes of the Boston Bozo, was that I steadfastly refused to run a red light to make a left turn when the arrow changed. Now do y'all STILL want to know why I'm so much in favor of a separate southern Confederacy?

• Orlando attracts the most idiotic type of tourist. This is most especially true of the ones hailing from the British Isles, who tend to walk around in large groups that often overtake the sidewalk. These Tommy Hilfiger clad Cro-Magnons can be found waiting in long lines to get into Hooters or the Golden Corral after an enlightening visit to Ripley's Believe It Or Not.

• The gamut of garbage can attractions is extensively wide here and there never seems to be a shortage of gaping simians lined up at the door to fill each one to the rafters. As I drove by looking at this spectacle I was reminded of a quote by H.L. Mencken: "No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby."

• Disney World SUCKS!

• I'll be glad when this part of Florida is finally reclaimed by Spanish speaking people again, then maybe some of the colonial charm will return to this over-commercialized, tawdry stretch of neon lit nothingness. At least in Las Vegas you can encounter good food, somewhat more sophisticated entertainments and unique venues and architecture. Orlando, on the other hand, is about as exciting as a trip to the outlet mall where you can be entertained by the mime in the food court. Just don't eat too much, you'll need to save room for dinner at the Cracker Barrel.

• And oh yeah----Disney World SUCKS!

It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring

One of the remarkable things about living on the Gulf of Mexico are the incredible rain storms that come and go with such ferocious intensity. The front that passed through Seagrove Beach this afternoon was the same one that spawned a tornado in New Orleans last night which killed one person and caused much destruction. It was the first fatality by a tornado in Orleans Parish since 1971 and only the sixth tornado ever to be recorded in the Big Easy in February.

The recent rash of intense coastal storms is a result of warmer than usual water temperatures in the Gulf and much colder air masses pushing down into the Deep South from Canada that normally tend to pass by further to the north. When these contrasting systems collide you'd better look out brutha!

When the current cold front passes through later tonight, the weather service is predicting sharply cooler readings for the rest of the week, with overnight lows dropping down into the upper teens by Friday night. Now that IS cold for Florida!

Well I was out and about in it today and just happened to have my camera handy. This sure is a whole lot different than the weather they have in the Great Basin.

Hwy. 98


Thar she blows!


Searchin' for fools.

An Art Blakey masterpiece

Art Blakey is one of my all-time favorite jazz artists, not only because of his near total mastery of his instrument (drums) but because he never rested on his laurels and was constantly taking artistic risks by reaching out to explore new territory.

Columbia Records (Sony) has recently re-released his 1956 classic Drum Suite with the Jazz Messengers. This record has the hard driving, fast paced action you expect from his well disciplined and thoroughly rehearsed ensemble but with a distinctly African frame of reference. The first song sets the tone of the album with an introductory Swahili chant followed by a pounding tympani. From here the compositions range from Afro-Cuban and cosmic calypso to classic hard bop that makes you wish Eisenhower was still president as the chrome portholes of your massive Buick Roadmaster sparkled in the smog free Los Angeles sun. Yes there was a time.

A new desert island disc for Beamis. I hope y'all get a chance to enjoy it too.

The music of Eddie Hazel

This past week I've finally added some new music to my library. One purchase was the result of a review I read in the surprisingly good English music magazine Mojo, while the others were from recent deals that BMG has offered its online customers where it seems that they are practically giving music away to get me to buy. BMG has also dramatically improved their catalog, especially in vintage jazz, so it is not hard to find good music to purchase at the incredibly low prices being offered.

The first CD I want to encourage you to buy (I found it for less than $9 on Half.com) is the recently re-released solo album by Parliment Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel titled "Games, Dames and Guitar Thangs" from 1977. This incredible record is a wide ranging work featuring the accompaniment of the entire P-Funk crew including George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and the Brides of Funkenstein. The sound and style of this disc stirs together a rich and heady brew of Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, and sixties psychedelia driven by the funky bopping bass lines of Bootsy Collins. It has even caused my stiffly un-rhythmic white man frame to break out into wild hip gyrating funk dancing (please don't tell my wife). The strongest cut is a cover of the Beatles "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" which has several extended solos and lots of groovin' background vocals from the Brides of Funkenstein. This is a record that I can listen to over and over again.

Unfortunately a fast life and drugs caught up with Eddie Hazel and he died in 1992, but luckily for posterity this resurrected masterpiece bears bold testimony to a brilliant guitarist and the life affirming power of funk.

I'll get to the rest of the music later this week.......stay tuned.

Are your papers in order?

Ve must see your papers!

It has been 16 years since I have had to apply for a drivers licence in a new state and what an eye-opening experience it has been, to say the least. The state of Florida started out by demanding to see my birth certificate and I immediately thought, "what pray tell does this have to do with operating a motor vehicle?" This was quickly followed by the need to produce my Social Security card, which by this time was getting me a little steamed at the wholesale intrusion into my privacy by the likes of the DMV. What exactly was their pressing need for this information in the first place?

All of the previous drivers permits that were issued to me in California, Georgia, Maryland, DC and Utah required no such proctological examination. I politely asked what was the need for all of these personal documents and the lady behind the counter said that they were "tightening up" and recently had become very strict about having identity papers well in hand before issuing licences to anyone. "WHY?" I silently asked myself. Was this going to make the highways and byways of the Sunshine State a much safer place to travel?

Again I asked the ether, "what does this have to do with operating a motor vehicle?"

Near the end of this ordeal they asked if I was registered to vote and I lied and said that I was. The last thing I want to do is register to vote! Are you kidding me? Why was someone at the drivers licence window asking me about that anyway? Had I accidentally arrived at the League of Women Voters office instead? At this point I was thinking to myself "things have really gone quite berserk at the DMV!"

Whatever happened to the good old days of an eye exam, an unflattering picture that highlights the bad side of your face and the requisite long wait in line to deal with a surly government clerk? Ahh how I nostalgically yearn for those long forgotten days of yesteryear when a drivers licence was just that and not the gateway to my innards. The days of Bill Clinton and Gerald Ford are looking better and better by the hour.

The good ol' U.S. of A. in the year 2007

Shutting down Boston

It is hard for me to reconcile the notion that Boston was once known as the "cradle of liberty" and the storied locale of where many of America's founding fathers hailed from with the recent shutdown of the city and subsequent security related hysteria that was created by a clever ad campaign for, of all things, a cultish cartoon show. It does, however, confirm my belief that we have finally morphed into the scared and frightened ninnies that the central government has intended for us to become.

Listening to the mayor of Boston hysterically ranting about the fact that it cost his city $500,000 to mitigate the effects of harmless advertising signs I could only wonder how long it would be before the slightest deviation from the "norms" deemed by the state would be tolerated from any of us.

I am heartened by the fact that the presiding judge in the case has made it clear to the prosecutor of the two miscreants who put the signs up in the first place that he does not believe that the city has made a sufficient case that they intended to shut Boston down or to cause terroristic mayhem. I was also very moved by the perpetrators refusal to answer any questions from the media except those pertaining to 1970's hairstyles. These young men may indeed someday become folk heroes just like Paul Revere and the Sons of Liberty.

The terrorists are rounded up.

All I can say is what a quivering mass of jelly our whole society has become.

A wise sage, who was born in Boston, once famously said "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

Another sage, from Baltimore, also noted that "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

Amen bruthas!

The terror device ensconced in a rubber gloved hand.