text:
All residents of Chittaranjan Park (the then E.P.D.P. Colony) assembled together on the evening of December 25, 1970 at I-1631, the residence of Sudhir Banerjee and decided to form a social and cultural organization under the banner of "Kalkaji Bangiya Samaj" with Fonindra Nath Sanyal as founder President, Santi Mazunder as founder Secretary and Nirmal Chandra Dasgupta as founder Treasurer. All the other residents present in the meeting were founder members of the organisation. On the occasion Mrs. Hashi Banerjee served tea and snacks to members present. Three Member Committee was formed to frame the Constitution of Kalkaji Bangiya Samaj i.e. Memorandum of Association and its Rules and Regulations of the Samaj under the Chairmanship of R C Sarma Sarkar, with P. N. Bhattacharya, Subrota Sen and Mano Ranjan Bhowmick as members. Subsequently, Kalkaji Bangiya Samaj was registered under the Society Act on February 21, 1971.
The resident of Mrs and Mr Banerjee was always open for the Samaj to hold meetings and other activities. In all there were 90 members enrolled during the period. At the time of crisis at Bangladesh and Assam due to devastating floods, the Samaj members with their family took out procession in the colony and adjoining colonies to raised funds, foods, cloths and medicines for the refugees. All materials including cash was handed over to the Rankrishna Mission for the purpose.
April 1972 – March 1973:
Second year of the Samaj was managed by the able guidance of Dr Subir Dutta Roy as President, Late Mano Ranjan Bhowmick as Secretary, and Late Nirmal Chandra Dasgupta as Treasurer. Samaj's opening balance of Rs.805.74 and it closed the year with a balance of Rs.9741.99. There were 170 members, showing an increase of about 80 members during the year. Subcription from the members was the main source of income of the Samaj. Thirteen meetings of the Executive Committee were held during the year, besides different sub-committees held their meetings from time to time.
A house for the Samaj was rented at 'H-1531' in collaboration with Shyama Prasad Vidyalaya in May 1972 at a share rent off Rs.210/- per month to meet the growing needs of the Library, limited indoor games and other social activities of the Samaj.
To begin with the Samaj Library, initially there were about 600 books which were registered. Good amount of money was spent towards purchase of 235 new books and. 95 Books received from Karolbagh Bangiys Sansad and 270 books received from individual members and well wishers of the colony as donation. In August 1972 an open air cinema "Dhanni Maya" was organized in the colony and in September 1972 two cinema shows "Fariyad" and "Aparna" were screened at Sapna Theater in aid of Samaj Library.
In January,1973 Mano Ranjan Bhowmik offered accommodation for the Samaj Library at his resident I-1752. Well organised Samaj Library was inaugurated by Dr Triguna Sen, the then Union Minister of Education. Shri Shanti Ranjan Banerjee (the then Chief Librarian, ICAR) took great pain and interest in cataloging the books and development of Library. Ladies of the colony volunteered their services in running the Library for three days in a week.
Samaj organized regularly literary sessions and an essay competition in Bengali open to youth up to 20 years of age and Short Story competitions in Bengali open to all age groups.
Beside Naba Barsha, Rabindra Jayanti, Bijaya Sammelani Samaj staged three dramas during Durga Puja festival – one by the children "Jhala Pala", one by the ladies "Uddhar" and "Kanchan Janga" by other members of the Samaj. Samaj also participated in the one-act play competition organized by the Bengali Club, Kalibari at AIFACS hall.
Annual Mela, January 1973 – Three-day Mela "Paush Mela" was organized in the colony from 12th to 14th January 1973 in the Zonal Park between H and I Block. Since then the Zonal Park is known as Mela Ground. Dr. Subir Dutta Roy and Shri Subrata Sen were the Chairman and Secretary respectively The first Paush Mela was inaugurated by Shri Sashi Bhushan, the then M.P. About 5000 visitors from different parts and distance parts of Delhi visited the Mela. Samaj Stall and Games Stall were efficiently managed by lady members of the colony. The Samaj Stall with lovely Bengali specialties like Pitha, Pulee, Patee-Sapta, Sona Mugg Dal, Chalta, etc. were a big attraction to the visitors coming from distance of Delhi. There were 18 stalls inside the well lit pandal, The Merry Go Round, Animal rides added to the festivity and gaiety. The daily evening programmes with magic shows, physical skill shows, dramas and variety dance programmes produced and performed by the members of the Samaj and different groups of Delhi were also invited to perform. The Mela comes to close in the midst of thundering applauses with the announcement of Lucky Draw prizes by Shri Sethi, the local Councilor was an added attraction to the people.
Kalkaji Bangiya Samaj organized its first Saraswati Puja in the Samaj Library at I-1752 during February 1973. It was beautifully decorated and organized by the lady members of the Samaj. Prashad and Bhog were also distributed to all presents.
During March 1973, Dol Utsav was celebrated in the colony with a 'Nagar Parikrama' in the morning followed by variety performances and Pala Kirtan in the evening.
Members felt an urgent need for a permanent house for the Samaj, for which one of the plots earmarked for the community centres, was to be acquired from the Government authority. Keeping in view the above, a Development Fund was created for the Samaj Building out of surplus funds received from First Paush Mela and subsequently it was decided to organize Paush Mela every year in aid of Samaj Building.


text:
My Nonprofit Reviews
Review for Wings of Hope, Inc., Chesterfield, MO, USA
An organization with a clear understanding of smaller charity foundations and a transparent desire to collaborate as partners to make a difference
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We are getting an ambulance and $$s to complete the construction of the Yantalo Clinic and Diagnostic Center and for the air ambulance airport
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the ability to share experiences and visit remote and forgotten sites
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
full of passion. Transparent. Wanting to make a difference
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
do so much more for the many corners of the world in need
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
TROO Nature !
It's Made by Freeze-Dried Technology under -40 Degrees Celcius then drying them by use Sublimination.
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-Original Fruit not Genetically modified
Ingredients : Bananas (100% cultivated in Korea)
Netto : 28g or approximately 2 Bananas
Original Product from : Korea
* For more information please click our website


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Room available in Moonah mid November. Big double bedroom with plenty of space for activities .... will definitely fit bed + desk or yoga mat or dance floor or drum kit or pottery wheel or spoon collection or whatever it is you may require space for . It has big windows, a fire place & mantle to adorn all your trinkets with. You will be sharing with myself (Lucy , aged 31) my ridiculously happy and all round bloody legend roomie Ryan (22) and my dog Delilah. You must be able to adult on a pretty high level ...... skills should hopefully include : cleaning up after yourself , being happy, turning the hotplate off after use, the ability to have a laugh, a love for doggos, paying bills on time , respect for other housemates & shared house belongings. Skills should not include : being lazy , being a dick , leaving things dirty, on or unlocked , being a bigot , not being compassionate towards animals and holding house parties. The house has three bedrooms, big lounge, dining room / study and all the other necessary rooms . It's furnished with all my vintage / retro stuff so if you're prone to breaking things or not giving a shit then please move on . It also has a pretty sweet deck & decent backyard as well as a garage to store ... shit .... in !! Rent is $120 per week PLUS bills . (Gas, water, power & internet) Bond is $365 and references are required.
This 2 bedroom unit is located on a quiet street in Moonah, close to supermarkets, zap fitness, 10 mins from CBD and a lot of take way food varieties. The Unit has off street parking, build in wardrobes, separate toilet to bathroom, standalone shower and bath, Dakin heating and endures a lot of natural light. The whole unit will be re-painted. Pets may be considered, smoking will have to be outside and basic furniture (couch, coffee table, dining table) and white goods will be provided.
Our place is set back from the street in a cosy Caravan with all the mod-cons you would need for a comfortable stay. You will have your own bathroom and toilet. Tv/DVD PLAYER, Air conditioning and heating, a king size bed or even 2 singles if you prefer, as well as your own cooking facilities. Don't enjoy cooking? Well we are an 8 minute walk to all the local eateries on the main road, 5 minute walk to the local supermarket and 2 minute walk to public transport. Our place is extremely central. We would like someone who's quiet, respectful and who might enjoy living in this modern yet cosy space.
1 bedroom fully self contained unit with lounge, kitchen, bathroom, electric heating, new carpet, in a quiet area, close to shops.
This beautiful 4 bedroom split level villa is located in the heart of newtown, close to all bus routes K mart,north hobart, moonah and 2 min drive to the highway. Rent is 210 a week. Rent for the main bedroom with off street parking ensuite and walk in robe is $230 a week, includes a king size bed wall mounted tv and bed side tables. All bills are included, water,power, Telstra tv/internet. Would suit a professional person who is easy going and likes a quiet environment. Shared cost for cleaner $15 every 3 weeks (paid in cash left on the bench for the cleaner) Please contact for more details. Regards Jon
Quite area for study all inclusive internet cable TV, river mountain views & close to all transport & shops 15 minutes from CBD.
Mine is a super sunny 1940's brick cottage with a very large sunny bedroom available in the front of the house. There's also a second bedroom that I use for some storage but which you could potentially pay a little more for and use as a second space/study/studio or guest room. I don't smoke. *Beautiful 1904's brick cottage with 10ft ceilings *Massive sun filled front bedroom and potential to pay a little more and use third spare room *Central and super close to public transport on NewTown Road *Woolies is at the end of the street *5-10 minute drive into CBD
The house is on the edge of New Town, close to the Calvary Hospital. It is on the bus route to the CBD. Students come and go from all countries. You are most welcome.
5 min walk to North Hobart shops off main street (Elizabeth) close to public transport unlimited NBN Wifi fully furnished kitchen, dining and lounge areas dishwasher, washing machine and dryer facilities separate toilet to bathroom undercover parking security alarm safe, quiet and friendly neighbourhood big backyard heat pump very tidy and clean decent sized bedroom (no built in wardrobes) 1/3 of utility bill roughly $100-200 a quarter
Enjoy everything that North Hobart has to offer with Employment Opportunities, Restaurants, Theatre, Supermarket and all amenities within easy walking distance including The Domain, Aquatic Centre, Athletic Centre, Tennis Centre, Bushwalking Trails, Botanical Gardens, Library, Salamanca Market and Farm Gate Market. Burnett House International Student Accommodation Safe, Secure and Affordable Accommodation for Female International Students. Rent: 125 per Person per Week WiFi is included in the Rent Electricity and Water is Shared Common Areas Feature: Dine-in Kitchen Study Room Bathroom Laundry Walking Distance To: City - 10 Minutes AC - 10 Minutes VTI - 20 Minutes RGIT - 20 Minutes UTAS by Bus - 15 Minutes
My current house mate will be moving interstate in January so I'm looking to find someone new that would like to move in. The house is located on a quiet street in West Hobart close to the shops in North Hobart. The room is unfurnished but the rest of the house is sorted. It's quite a large room that can easily fit a queen size bed, bedside table and a desk. The kitchen is modern and comes equipped with a gas stove and a dishwasher. There's a neat little courtyard out the back which doesn't require much maintenance except for some weeding before inspections. Unfortunately theres no off street parking but there's always plenty of space on the street. I like to split the bills equally and these aren't included in rent. NBN internet is available but also isn't included.
large unfurnished room for rent in very central location. The house is well furnished and has an awesome garden and very cosy fireplace. Only a few minute walk to the cbd.
Hello, we have a room to let in a new and central North Hobart townhouse. $165 per week. Bedroom is smallish but has huge built ins, very sunny and it's own private balcony. The house features a modern kitchen, a-bus sound system in living areas and bedrooms, sunny private courtyard, double glazing so cosy in the winter time, clean and happy home with a light and airy feeling. Best of all it's in the middle of North Hobart so everything is close by. Gym, restaurants, woolworths, Hill St Grocer, Cinema, Bank, live music, pharmacy all super close. Applicants should be friendly, positive, relaxed, & clean. Move in date is Dec 2nd.
We have just moved into a beautiful home that is only a few minutes walk from the North Hobart restaurant strip. It's lovely and light and spacious, has a beautiful front porch and big deck out the back. While the design of the property means that there is the opportunity to have some space to yourself, we also hope to create a home environment where we share the space and enjoy one another's company. Ultimately we want our home to be a place that everyone enjoys coming back to and spending time in. The room that is available is an attic style room, which can fit a queen bed and is lovely and bright. Unfortunately we can't have pets. The photos of this property have been taken from the real estate listing, and therefore the property is now furnished differently.
Ours is a beautiful and unique Art Dec property in Lindisfarne. There is a large lounge with an open fireplace, a large eat in kitchen and a separate dining room that has fantastic view of Mt Wellington. There is a huge back yard with cherry trees that provide delicious fruit just in time for christmas.
Share accomodation in Lindisfarne in a 3 Bedroom house, only 2 minutes walk to the bus stop, 10 minutes walk to Eastlands Shopping Centre, Offers Street parking.
This lovely property is the best of both worlds, only a 10 minute walk from the city center, situated in a restful and private neighborhood location. It boasts 2 spacious bedrooms, 1 refurbished bathroom and kitchen. The living area is quite cosy and it also features a spacious outdoor area for entertaining. The property gets a fair bit of sun throughout the day and a beautiful view to wake up to every morning. Off street parking is available and unlimited internet is included in the rent.
It's a 3 level town house at the best location in hobart. 5 min walk to city center, 3 min walk to water, 10 min walk to salamanca market, everything in your door step. 2 bed rooms on ground flour, kitchen&living room on 1st flour, 3r room on 2nd flour.
NO BOND. Our price includes power, heat, and water expenses, FREE WIFI, study spaces with desks and chairs, etc. Minimum stay is 1 month payable in advance to get this low rate. Linens can be changed weekly at your request. Big funky dining room and a couple of big lounge rooms with big TVs. Plenty of private reading areas with leather couches and a book exchange. Washing and drying machines for your clothes available for $6/hour, with laundry liquid included. We are close to Asian and seafood restaurants, and we have a stainless steel kitchen if you cook for yourselves, and the supermarket to buy food is 150 metres away. All cutlery and cookware are provided. We pride ourselves on having a very quiet accommodation to sleep and rest and we have 24 hour security, with plenty of staff who live on site, and we welcome students to stay here or travellers staying for months at a time.
I have a spacious room available from 5 February for a single person in my home at West Hobart (city edge living) . It's a lovely heritage home with large rooms and modern facilities. Nice and quiet but within a short stroll of the city. Rent includes unlimited NBN.


text:
E-mail Address
The Equator Initiative is a partnership that brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizations to build the capacity and raise the profile of local efforts to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The Equator Initiative has announced the call for nominations for the Equator Prize, which will recognize 25 outstanding local initiatives that are working to advance sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities.
Nominations are accepted in 16 languages from local initiatives in 146 countries.
Equator Prize Winners
The 25 recipients of the biennial Equator Prize will each receive $5,000 (USD), with 10 selected for special recognition and a total of $20,000 (USD).
Representatives of winning communities will participate in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), which will be held in Brazil in June.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
In order to be eligible for the Equator Prize, nominees must:
Community-based organizations; Community-based enterprises and cooperatives; Indigenous groups; Non-governmental organizations; Community-based initiatives associated with conserved areas or other biological reserves; Women's groups; Youth groups
Selection Criteria
Equator Prize winners will be selected based on the following criteria:
Last date for submission of nominations is October 31st.


text:
Red Hat Bugzilla – Full Text Bug Listing
|Review Request: cachefilesd
|[Fedora] Fedora
|Steve Dickson <steved>
|Package Review
|David Cantrell <dcantrell>
|QA Contact:
|Fedora Extras Quality Assurance <extras-qa>
|Docs Contact:
|coughlan, dhowells, fedora-package-review, kevin
|Target Milestone:
|Target Release:
|Fixed In Version:
|Doc Type:
|Bug Fix
|Doc Text:
|Story Points:
|Clone Of:
|Last Closed:
|Mount Type:
|Verified Versions:
|oVirt Team:
|RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
|Cloudforms Team:
|Bug Depends On:
|Bug Blocks:
Description Steve Dickson 2006-07-28 12:34:18 EDT
Spec URL: http://people.redhat.com/steved/fscache/cachefilesd/0.3-2/cachefilesd.spec SRPM URL: http://people.redhat.com/steved/fscache/cachefilesd/0.3-2/cachefilesd-0.3-2.src.rpm Description: The cachefilesd daemon manages the caching files and directory that are that are used by network filesystems such a AFS and NFS to do persistent caching to the local disk.
Comment 1 Jesse Keating 2006-07-28 12:49:14 EDT
NEEDSWORK: - no URL tag - Source0 should be a full URL if possible - Missing BuildRequires, at least automake - Requires(post): /usr/bin/chkconfig - Requires(preun): /usr/bin/chkconfig - Init scripts aren't often marked as config files... Please fix up the missing build requires (test by 'brew build --scratch --arch-override x86_64 dist-5E cachefilesd-0.3-2.src.rpm' and 'brew watch-logs <failedtaskid>) and I'll build and run rpmlint on it.
Comment 2 Steve Dickson 2006-07-28 15:23:01 EDT
- no URL tag - Source0 should be a full URL if possible There is no upstream at this point so there is URL at the moment. I guess I could through things it on my people pages if that would be ok... - Missing BuildRequires, at least automake - Requires(post): /usr/bin/chkconfig - Requires(preun): /usr/bin/chkconfig Done. - Init scripts aren't often marked as config files... The init script is in the tarball. So do I need to break it out and create a file called cachefiles.init? Please fix up the missing build requires (test by 'brew build --scratch --arch-override x86_64 dist-5E cachefilesd-0.3-2.src.rpm' and 'brew watch-logs <failedtaskid>) Done... see taskID 138115
Comment 3 Jesse Keating 2006-07-31 14:42:18 EDT
er, the init script thing, just don't mark it as %config in the spec file. Pointing to your people page is fine, or even just www.redhat.com since this is a Red Hat project. I'll await an updates .spec and .srpm.
Comment 4 Steve Dickson 2006-08-01 13:44:29 EDT
The following changes were made to the spec file and srpm in: http://people.redhat.com/steved/fscache/cachefilesd/0.3-2 diff -r1.8 cachefilesd.spec 3c3 < Release: 2%{?dist} --- > Release: 3%{?dist} 8c8 < Source0: cachefilesd-0.3.tar.bz2 --- > Source0: http://people.redhat.com/dhowells/cachefilesd/cachefilesd-0.3.tar.bz2 71c71 < %config %{_sysconfdir}/rc.d/init.d/cachefilesd --- > %{_sysconfdir}/rc.d/init.d/cachefilesd
Comment 7 Jesse Keating 2006-08-01 16:22:53 EDT
rpmlint is warning you that there is no standalone URL tag which might point to a project page. Your spec /srpm wasn't updated at your sight, but I'm applying the patches to it by hand. Hrm, somehow I missed this before: there is no actual cleaning of rpmbuildroot in %clean, please fix that. E: cachefilesd zero-length /usr/share/doc/cachefilesd-0.3/ChangeLog And would it kill ya to add URL: http://www.redhat.com or something similar?
Comment 8 Steve Dickson 2006-08-01 16:35:00 EDT
err... http://people.redhat.com/steved/fscache/cachefilesd/0.3-3 has the correct spec and srpm... adding a http://www.redhat.com URL would be fine...
Comment 9 Jesse Keating 2006-08-01 17:34:43 EDT
Still doesn't have the changes I mentioned above...
Comment 10 Steve Dickson 2006-08-01 21:54:02 EDT
Maded the following changed to the spec that can be found in http://people.redhat.com/steved/fscache/cachefilesd/0.3-3 diff -r1.9 cachefilesd.spec 6a7,8 > URL: http://www.redhat.com > 56a59 > rm -rf $RPM_BUILD_ROOT
Comment 11 Jesse Keating 2006-08-02 11:40:05 EDT
Ok, with that this package is approved. Will this need to be on comps somewhere, or would you be marking this as a dep of some other package?
Comment 12 Steve Dickson 2006-08-03 09:30:33 EDT
No and no...
Comment 14 Jesse Keating 2006-08-04 08:44:35 EDT
I've added cachefilesd to dist-fc6 as owned by steved. It is too late for Test2, but if this is a blocker for RHEL5 B1 you can get it included there. I'm a bit confused, if its not a Requires of something, nor in Comps anyplace, how will a user actually install it? Please close this bug when you've built it into dist-fc6.
Comment 15 Jesse Keating 2006-08-07 15:26:09 EDT
Built into dist-fc6, still has a question on why not in comps.
Comment 16 David Howells 2006-08-08 05:06:24 EDT
> I'm a bit confused, if its not a Requires of something, nor in Comps
> anyplace, how will a user actually install it?
That means we need to update the installer?
Comment 17 Tom Coughlan 2008-03-13 15:23:04 EDT
Package Change Request ====================== Package Name: cachefilesd [New Branches: ] [Updated Fedora Owners: ] email@example.com [Updated Fedora CC: ] [Updated EPEL Owners: ] [Updated EPEL CC: ] [Updated Description: ] [Updated Cvsextras Commits: ] [add any required explanatory text here] David is the primary author.
Comment 18 Kevin Fenzi 2008-03-13 19:57:34 EDT
Is steve ok with handing off the package maintaining? Is dhowells ok with taking over the package maintaining? I'd be happy to make the changes with their acks... or they can go to: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/pkgdb/packages/name/cachefilesd and make the changes themselves.


text:
Ways to Keep Your Dog Cool in the Summer
Product Description
Whats your pet dreaming about? On this bed hes bound to have visions of chasing wildlife on the Serengeti plain. The design may be wild but it feels right at home in the most cultivated environments. Tough upholstery-grade micro-fiber top is soft and comfortable but stands up to heavy paw-traffic. Looks great in living room family room or SUV. Tough durable construction ensures dog-years of use. Meticulous hand-sewing stands up to rough handling. Filled with the perfect amount and density of high-loft PlanetFill filler. Custom-made P.L.A.Y-zipper makes it easy to slip cover off for washing. Tested by exhausted (yet fickle) four-legged friends. Eco-friendly PlanetFill filler is manufactured from certified-safe recycled plastic bottles. Made in a facility that meets the strict quality standards for infant and children products. Size: Small - 28 W x 20 L (Pets up to 20 lbs). Color: Light Grey. Cover only - No pillo. see more...
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text:
by Kent Whitaker & Sheila Simmons
• Sample Recipes:
•Sample Pages:
• About the Authors
• Festivals included in the book
You will love this deep dish, double serving of local, tried and true recipes and fun-filled facts about hometowns all over The Mountain State. From Wild and Wonderful West Virginia you will experience wild and wonderful favorites like Venison Jerky, White Beans & Ramps, and Dandelion Cookies, to traditional southern favorites like Tried and True Cornbread, Classic Creamy Cole Slaw, and My Mama's Meatloaf, to uniquely Appalachian favorites like Hillbilly Hot Dog Sauce, Mountain-Style Blackberry Jam Cake, Pepperoni Roll Poppers, and Preston County Raised Buckwheat Pancakes. This outstanding cookbook is packed with favorite recipes your family is sure to love.
Experience West Virginia's all-time favorite recipes… from West Virginia Cast-Iron Sugar Snap Peas, Golden Delicious Wassail, and First Lady's Cornbread Salsa to Molasses Raisin Cookies, Mom's Hot Fried Buttermilk Chicken, and Pawpaw Chiffon Pie. From Frosted Honey Cake to Mountain Mini Trout Cakes to Berkeley Springs Oven-Baked Apple Butter… You'll taste the very BEST of West Virginia.
You'll also enjoy interesting facts and stories about fun food festivals around the state... from Hogging Up WV BBQ & Music Festival to Ramps & Rail Festival in Elkins, from West Virginia Peach Festival to Autumn Harvest Festival & Roadkill Cook-Off in Marlinton, and West Virginia Black Walnut Festival to WV Hot Dog Festival in Hungtington, you'll never miss the celebration!
Arnoldsburg • WV Molasses Festival
Berkeley Springs • Apple Butter Festival WV
Berkeley Springs • Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Berkeley Springs • Uniquely West Virginia Wine and Food Festival Bluefield • Lemonade Festival
Buckeye • Wild Edibles Festival
Buckhannon • West Virginia Strawberry Festival
Burlington • Burlington Old Fashioned Apple Harvest Festival
Charleston • Ribfest BBQ Festival
Clarksburg • WV Italian National Pasta Cookoff
Clay • Clay County Golden Delicious Festival
Elkins • Ramps & Rails Festival
Fairmont • Feast of the Seven Fishes Festival
Fairmont • Harvest Festival Pricketts Fort State Park
Fairmont • Tomato Festival
Great Cacapon • Hogging Up BBQ Festival
Huntington • ChiliFest
Huntington • WV Hot Dog Festival
Keyser • West Virginia Peach Festival
Kingwood • Preston County Buckwheat Festival
Lewisburg • Lewisburg Chocolate Festival
Lewisburg • Taste of Our Towns Festival
Marlinton • WV RoadKill Cook-Off and Autumn Harvest Festival
Martinsburg • Main Strert Martinsburg Chili Cookoff
Martinsburg • Martinsburg Chocolate Festival
Mathias • WV Turkey Festival
Nutter Fort • WV Blackberry Festival
Ripley • WV Chocolate Festival
Rowlesburg • West Virginia Chestnut Festival
Saint Albans • Morgan's Kitchen Fall Festival
Salem • Salem Apple Butter Festival
Snowshoe • Blues, Brews, & BBQ Festival
Spencer • WV Black Walnut Festival
Summersville • Kirkwood Winery Grape Stomping Wine Festival Summersville • Nicholas County Potato Festival
Webster Springs • Burgoo Cook-off
Apple Butter Festival
Berkeley Springs • Columbus Day weekend in October
This traditional harvest festival kicks off with a nostalgic hometown parade Saturday morning followed by two-days-worth of family-friendly games and contests, music, country food, fine arts and local crafts. Undisputed star of the Apple Butter Festival is the spicy apple butter stirred in giant copper kettles in the middle of the square. Free admission.
304-258-3738 •
Berkeley Springs
International Water Tasting
Berkeley Springs • Last Full Weekend in February
More than 100 waters from around the USA and the planet compete for best tasting and packaging in this award-winning event that is the largest and longest-running water tasting in the world. The public can taste along and take home entries in the concluding Water Rush. A day-long water seminar brings experts from around the world to Berkley Springs for the annual Berkley Springs International Water Tasting. Free admission.
800-448-8797 • www.berkeleysprings.com/water
Blues Brews & BBQ Festival
Snowshoe • First Weekend in August
Take the best craft brewers in West Virginia and combine them with great food, live music and amazing vistas from the top of the mountain and you get the Blues Brews & BBQ Festival. It just doesn't get much better than that.
304-572-5892 • www.snowshoemtn.com
Burgoo Cook-off
Webster Springs • Columbus Day Weekend
Burgoo Cook-Off in Webster Springs is a fall festival that is fun for the whole family. The star of the show is the Burgoo contest which has an entry fee and pays cash prizes for First, Second, Third, and People's Choice awards. There is no admission to fee to enjoy the fun — live bluegrass music, apple butter making, an apple pie contest, hay rides, cake walks, a scarecrow contest, pumpkin painting, and much more. Bring the family and join the fun.
304-847-7291 • www.visitwebsterwv.com
Burlington Old-Fashioned
Apple Harvest Festival
Burlington • First Full Weekend in October
Burlington Old-Fashioned Apple Harvest Festival is a free two-day event including live entertainment, a Banjo & Fiddle contest, a baby apple dumpling contest, parade, and, of course, old-fashioned apple butter and apple dumplings. There are many food and craft vendors on site as well as a car show and fireworks on the last night. This is a great event for the whole family.
800-969-0079 • www.bumfs.org
Huntington • September
ChiliFest is the West Virginia State Chili Championship sanctioned by the International Chili Society. Cooks from a five-state area come to compete for the state title and go on to compete in the World's Chili Championship. Great chili, spirited competition, live music, games and a Kids Corner event all make ChiliFest a great community event and a fundraiser for the local Ronald McDonald House. To date, ChiliFest has raised over $550,000 for The House.
304-634-4857 • www.chilifestwv.com
Clay County
Delicious Festival
Clay • Third Week in September
The Clay County Golden Delicious Festival features four days of music and entertainment, crafts, parade, games and rides, pageants, quilt show, motorcycle show, antique car show, golf tournament and an outdoor drama. You will also discover, of course, baking contests with lots of food all brought together to celebrate the Golden Delicious Apple that was discovered on the Mullins Farm in Clay County.
8304-587-4260 •
Feast of the Seven Fishes
Fairmont • Second Saturday in December
One Saturday every December, thousands of people venture onto Monroe Street in downtown Fairmont for a fun day filled with authentic Italian cuisine, traditional holiday music, and unique gift shopping opportunities. This wildly anticipated event draws more than 8,000 visitors annually.
304.366.0468 • www.mainstreetfairmont.org
Harvest Festival
Fairmont at Pricketts Fort State Park • Second Weekend in October
Enjoy a fun, fall weekend focusing on 18th century foods. This fun-for-the-whole-family festival includes demonstrations and displays about wild game, food production, harvest preservation, cooking, customs and manners.
304-363-3030 • www.prickettsfort.org
Hogging Up WV
BBQ & Music Festival
Great Cacapon •
Fourth Weekend in October
West Virginia State Championship BBQ & Music Festival is a two-day event in the mountains of West Virginia. Held at Cox Camping just 12 miles outside Berkeley Springs, nestled at the foothills of the Cacapon mountains, you will enjoy the beauty of West Virginia and a wonderful weekend in the wilderness along with music, barbecue and more food, vendors, beer and more. As seen on The Rachael Ray Show, and in the New York Times, Steven Raichlen's barbecue books and Saveur magazine.
410-908-9241 • www.HoggingUpWV.com
Kirkwood Winery Grape Stomping
Wine Festival
Summersville • Third Weekend in September
For more than 20 years, the Kirkwood Winery Grape Stomping Wine Festival has provided fun for the whole family. This unique festival features live music, dance groups, handmade crafts, and good food. Popular music groups perform each year; check the website for the full line-up. Everyone loves the Grape Stomping and Grape Eating Contests. Enjoy a free glass with admission to the wine tasting.
304-872-7332 • www.kirkwood-wine.com
Lemonade Festival
Bluefield • Last Weekend in August
Bluefield Preservation Society hosts the Lemonade Festival in the Depot District the last weekend of August. The celebration of The Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce's long-standing lemonade promotion features: art exhibits, parade, antique car show, food court, arts and crafts, LemonMade Cook- Off, lemonade promotion display, lemon hunt, family fun park, musical acts from acclaimed gospel groups to local artists, with a grand finale act in the historic Granada Theater. The GBCC's lemonade promotion began in 1939. Arguably the most unique and highly recognized tradition celebrated in the Bluefields, the lemonade promotion is well loved by citizens and has gained national exposure.
304-589-0239 •
Lewisburg Chocolate Festival
Lewisburg • Second Weekend in April
The Lewisburg Chocolate Festival is a chocolate lover's dream. This fun festival offers something for the whole family with a chocolate tasting extravaganza, live performances, chocolate mousse eating contest, bake-offs and professional demonstrations.
304-645-1000 • www.lewisburgchocolatefestival.com
Main Street Martinsburg
Chili Cook-Off
Martinsburg • October
Enjoy Music from Clement & Williams and The Eric Chef Group , beer and Chili in downtown Martinsburg. Saturday, October 4th from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. to taste chili $5.00 per person, 7 years old and below FREE.
304.262.4200 • www.mainstreetmartinsburg.com
Martinsburg Chocolate Festival
and Book Fair
Martinsburg • Last Weekend in April
Indulge the mind and the senses at the Fourth Annual Chocolate Fest/Book Faire held in historic downtown Martinsburg West Virginia on the last weekend of April. Experience a one day Extravaganza held throughout downtown businesses. Explore the unique shops and speak with West Virginia Authors, tours at DeFluri's Fine Chocolates, Chocolate Cupcake Contest, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory showing at the Public Library and much more.
304-262-4200 • www.mainstreetmartinsburg.com
Morgan's Kitchen Fall Festival
St. Albans • Second Saturday in October
The Annual Morgan's Kitchen Fall Festival, sponsored by the St. Albans Historical Society, is held the second Saturday in October each year at historic Morgan's Kitchen, located along MacCorkle Avenue in St. Albans. Activities include apple butter making, cabin tours, pioneer re-enactors, hit/ miss engines, arts and crafts, old time music and antique wood-crafters. Baked goods and hot dogs are available. Apple butter is available for purchase. There is no charge for this event and plenty of parking is available.
304-727-5972 • www.stalbanshistory.com/morgans-kitchen
Nicholas County Potato Festival
Summersville • September
The Nicholas County Potato Festival celebrates potato farmers in the area with two days of fun for the whole family. You will enjoy amusement rides, a Car and Tractor Show, Farmer's Market, Potato Auction, Pet Pageant, Corn Hole Competition, 5K Race, Spud Hunt and Sack Race, Daily Entertainment, Firemen's Parade, Grand Parade, Potato Idol Competition, Fireworks, Food and Craft Vendors and Mashed Potato, Tater Tot and Hot Wing Eating Contests.
304-872-3722 • www.nicholascountypotatofestival.com
Preston County Buckwheat Festival
Kingwood •
Last Thursday in September
The Preston County Buckwheat Festival always starts the last Thursday in September. For more than 70 years, the festival has been entertaining people far and wide. The festival features 3 parades, coronation of Queen Ceres and King Buckwheat, arts and crafts, livestock exhibits, quits, 4H exhibits, Friday night entertainment show, antique car show, a midway with over 20 rides, and festival food including our famous whole hog sausage and buckwheat cake dinners.
304-379-2203 • www.buckwheatfest.com
Ramps & Rail Festival
Elkins •
Fourth Saturday in April
Learn about Ramps—the unique, indigenous "wild leek" that grows in the Appalachian mountains— at the annual Ramps & Rail Festival in Elkins. Enjoy local arts, crafts, live music and food vendors who show off scrumptious ramp dishes from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm in the Town Square. Relax on a one-hour ride on the New Tygart Flyer which departs twice on the day of the festival. See website for ticket prices.
8877-686-7245 •
Ribfest BBQ Festival
Charleston • September
The annual Ribfest BBQ Festival features world-class awardwinning barbecue rib vendors from around the country serving the best barbecue ribs, chicken and sauces you will ever eat along with a variety of other great foods including Philly cheesesteaks, hamburgers, hot dogs, seafood and a selection of delicious desserts. People come from over 12 states to enjoy the great foods and entertainment including carnival rides, nightly entertainment, attractions, petting zoo, pony rides, eating contest and much more. This family friendly event has lots to do for people of all ages.
304-444-2921 • www.charlestonwvribfest.com
Salem Apple Butter Festival
Salem • First Thursday thru Sunday of October
The Salem Apple Butter Festival provides live demonstrations of old-fashioned apple butter making. You will see the process done outdoors using copper kettles suspended over wood fire with the tasty product and canned on the spot for visitors to purchase. Other attractions include live entertainment, a grand parade, Saturday night fireworks, food, crafts, celebrity auction and many contests including apple pie baking, quilt show, the Sam Warner Memorial 5k Run, bicycle poker ride, pet show-off, talent show, car show, and horseshoe pitching and corn hole tournaments. The festival is a drug and alcohol free event providing family fun for all ages. There is no admission charge and all entertainment is free, as well.
304-782-1518 • www.salemapplebutterfestival.com
Taste of Our Towns
Lewisburg •
Second Saturday of October
Taste of Our Towns, a benefit for Carnegie Hall, West Virginia, takes place the second Saturday of October each year. Thousands of residents and visitors from across the region converge to gather on the streets of historic downtown Lewisburg to sample delicacies from local restaurants, civic clubs and organizations. Yearly favorites such as The General Lewis Inn's pecan pie and Wolf Creek Gallery's crab cakes disappear quickly. You certainly won't want to miss The Greenbrier who comes out in force with numerous selections from their exclusive restaurants. Cash is not accepted at TOOT. For your convenience, you may order tokens in advance beginning in September. Will-call tokens will be available the day of the event at the Carnegie Hall booth near the green space.
304-645-7917• www.carnegiehallwv.org
Annual Tomato
Tasting Festival
Fairmont •
Third Sunday in August
The Annual Tomato Tasting Festival hosted by the Marion County Master Gardener Association is the 3rd Sunday each August at the High Gate Carriage House in Fairmont. You'll sample more than 60 varieties of tomatoes provided by local growers judged for the Biggest, Best Tasting and People's Choice. Step outside, for lunch or to leisurely stroll the historic coal baron's estate grounds to the Farmers Market, musical entertainment, gardening and food clinics, children's activities, and other educational and heritage displays—WV Extension demonstrations, honeybees, basket weaving, and butterfly tent. Free Admission. There is no entry fee for tomatoes.
304-816-1379 • www.marion.ext.wvu.edu
Uniquely West Virginia
Wine and Food Festival
Berkeley Springs • April
Uniquely West Virginia Wind and Food Festival includes more than a score of West Virginia wineries and edible product makers and growers set up for a daylong sampling and sale of their products. All weekend long, local restaurants and shops join in with related specials and sales. The show offers a free opportunity for the public to sample and buy dozens of state-grown products as well as meet the faces behind these products.
304-258-9147 • www.berkeleysprings.com/uniquely-west-virginia-wine-food-festival
West Virginia Chocolate Festival
Ripley • Day Before Palm Sunday
The West Virginia Chocolate Festival is all things chocolate. From truffles to molded suckers, from dipped fruit to fudge, chocolate bunnies to chocolate covered popcorn. If it is made with chocolate, we probably have it. This is a family event with free admission and free parking.
West Virginia Turkey Festival
Mathias •
Fourth Weekend in October
West Virginia Turkey Festival is held to honor Turkey growers in the state. The festival features a turkey/ ham dinner, turkey shoot, car show, craft show, pageant and other events. Everyone is welcome to come see the beautiful little town of Mathias and enjoy everything the festival has to offer.
304-897-7282 • www.facebook.com/wvturkeyfestivalpageant
Wild Edibles Festival
Buckeye •
Third Saturday in April
Get a taste of Pocahontas County at the annual Wild Edibles Festival. Choose from a variety of workshops and walks where you will learn where to gather, how to identify, and how to prepare the delicious bounty of wild edible plants. Make and sample wildflower teas, main dishes, and desserts made with greens and flowers you won't find at the supermarket. There is silent auction and vendors for your enjoyment.
304-799-4636 • www.pocahontascountywv.com
West Virginia Black
Walnut Festival
Spencer •
Second Thursday in October
For 60 years, The Black Walnut Festival has entertained the area with a family-centered festival that is great fun for people of all ages. Featuring food, music, arts and crafts, 4H exhibits, a carnival, kid's day parade, marching band competition and the Grand Parade on Saturday, you will not want to miss this four-day festival—one of West Virginia's best festivals.
304-927-1640 • www.wvbwf.com
West Virginia Chestnut Festival
Rowlesburg • Sundays in October
Established in 2008 and sponsored by the Rowlesburg Revitalization Committee with the Town of Rowlesburg and Tourism Commission, West Virginia Chestnut Festival celebrates the great American chestnut tree, which originally made-up 40% of hardwood trees in the 16 States of the Appalachian Chain, prior to an Asian blight occurring in the early 20th century. Visitors enjoy sampling and purchasing chestnuts, roasted chestnuts on an open grill, visiting vendors, or attending presentations on restoration of the American chestnut tree. The festival finishes with a gala dinner banquet, featuring chestnut flavored items, and the crowing of chestnut royalty, Mr. and Mrs. Chestnut.
304-329-1240 • www.wvchestnutfestival.com
WV Hot Dog Festival
Huntington •
Last Saturday in July
Eat your fill of hot dogs while listening to live music and enjoying great entertainment all day at this annual event. You'll love the BUN RUN, BUNS ON BIKES, and HOT DOGS & HOT RODS Car Show. Watch the Hot Dog Eating Contest, Root Beer Chuggin' Contest, and Celebrity Mustard Squirt Contest. Play in the KIDZONE, visit the PETZONE, participate in the all-breed exhibition dog races, annual WV Wiener Dog Races, and $100 "Dachshund Dash" championship race, and so much more. It a full day of family fun benefitting kids in treatment at the Hoops Family Children's Hospital, at Cabell-Huntington Hospital.
304-525-7788 x154 • www.WVHotDogFestival.com
West Virginia Maple
Syrup Festival
Pickens •
Third Weekend in March
The West Virginia Maple Syrup Festival is held the third weekend of March each year in Pickens (Randolph County) offering a weekend of country fun including a famous pancake/buckwheat cake feed with pure maple syrup. A country ham and bean dinner on Saturday evening is followed by an old-fashioned square dance. Saturday and Sunday feature with local musical entertainment throughout the both days with various craftsmen demonstrating their talents and skills. Fun for all ages.
304-924-5363 • www.pickenswv.com/maple-syrup-festival
West Virginia Molasses Festival
Arnoldsburg • Last Full Weekend in September
For more than 40 years the West Virginia Molasses Festival has supported the West Fork Community Action which was organized in 1965 for the purpose of developing a community center. The committee depended on raising cane and processing it into sorghum molasses to pay the loan on the land. When a second loan was needed for a building, the Festival was born. This fun, 3-day festival features exhibits, country store items, molasses making demonstrations, a pageant, food vendors, arts & craft vendors, sausage and pancake supper, cake walks, gospel music, a parade, children's games, a greased pig contest and more. Join us for history, heritage and lots of fun.
West Virginia Peach Festival
Keyser •
Second Weekend in August
The mission of West Virginia Peach Festival is to celebrate the growing of peaches in Hampshire County as well as the state of West Virginia. The state commissioner of agriculture crowns our king and queen, who win the position by writing an essay about agriculture in the area. We also have a Little Peach Fuzz and Peach Blossom, which are part of the royalty. The festival includes a myriad of activities geared around peaches including a hat contest, pie and peach eating contests, games, activities, live entertainment and artisans. The majority of the events
304-788-0903 •
West Virginia Roadkill Cook-Off
Marlinton •
Last Saturday in September
The West Virginia RoadKill Cook-off is one of the region's most fun and exciting annual events covered in years past by the Food Network, the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel. If you've ever wanted to taste exotic dishes like squirrel gravy over biscuits, teriyaki-marinated bear or deer sausage, this is the place to be. This wild and offbeat festival is guaranteed fun for the entire family, so come see what Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods calls "The Real Deal."
800-336-7009 • www.pccocwv.com/roadkill
West Virginia Strawberry Festival
Buckhannon •
Third Week in May
The West Virginia Strawberry Festival began in 1936 as a one-day event to honor local strawberry farmers. Now 73+ years later, the event is a week of community fun with tasty strawberry treats, a carnival, arts and craft shows, musical performances and more. Join us for a week of fun for the whole family.
304-472-9036 •
West Virginia Blackberry Festival
Nutter Fort •
First Weekend in August
West Virginia Blackberry Festival is a family festival with free admission, free parking, and free quality entertainment, West Virginia Blackberry Festival has food, novelty, craft, and snack vendors on site, as well as amusement rides, bounces, climbing wall, and more. Live musical entertainment takes place on a professional stage. Other events include a car parade, pet parade, baking contest, talent contest, and a 5K run.
304-709-3206 • www.wvblackberry.com
West Virginia Italian Festival
National Pasta Cookoff
Clarksburg •
Weekend Before Labor Day
West Virginia Italian Festival National Pasta Cookoff is a full day of fun including tasting great pasta. Held in the covered area of Clarksburg's Jackson Square Event Facility in downtown Clarksburg, cooks of all ages, professional and amateur, vie for the best red sauce, best white sauce and People's Choice award. Other activities throughout the day include live music, silent auction, hot pepper eating contest, and more. Ahhhhh Pastaaaa! It doesn't get any better than this.
304-622-2157 • www.wvihf.com
Kent Whitaker has taken his down-home, Southern-style cooking to an art-form. "I like to do a bit more than burgers and dogs on the grill." He is the author of three cookbooks, Tennessee Hometown Cookbook (Great American Publishers, 2007), Smoke in the Mountains (Quail Ridge Press, 2004) and Checkered Flag Cooking (Quail Ridge Press, 2005), and has written and illustrated two children's books, Why are the Mountains Smoky? (Overmountain Press, 2004) and Big Mo's Tennis Ball Hunt (Great American Publishers, 2006).
Kent has appeared on the Food Network and other network television stations. He frequently hosts cooking classes at the Chattanooga Market and throughout the South. He writes a cooking column for the Catoosa County News and the Chattanoogan, and writes monthly articles for both The National Barbecue News and Racing Milestones Magazine. Kent is a dog-lover and advocate for local animal shelters and rescue organizations.
Kent and his wife Ally live in East Tennessee with one son, Macee, a Golden Retriever named Moses and a Shitzu named Barney.
Sheila Simmons is passionate about cooking and cookbooks. In her travels, when people come to stay at her "rambling house in the country," when entertaining, and especially when attending church events, the subject will always, eventually, turn to recipes.
Sheila's interest in regional recipes was originally born during her 18 years with Quail Ridge Press in Brandon, Mississippi. In 2006, she left QRP to focus her love of publishing on Great American Publishers where she is Publisher and co-owner along with husband Roger Simmons.
Sheila has also found an outlet for her regional recipe passion in the State Hometown Cookbook Series. She and co-author Kent Whitaker collect favorite recipes from every state in the country for the series. A "job" that is perfect for someone who loves to talk about and share great recipes and equally enjoys trying new recipes in her kitchen.
Sheila is publisher of Great American Publishers (Lena, MS), author of the State Hometown Cookbook Series, and Children's Director for Mt Pisgah Baptist Church (Brandon, MS). She lives in Lena, Mississippi with her husband Roger and son Nicholas. Her fist-born son, Ryan, lives close-by with his wife, Shelbie who is pregnant with Sheila's first grandchild. In addition to publishing, cooking, and collecting recipes Sheila enjoys spending time with family, reading, collecting first edition books, and classic cars.
Great American Publishers
501 Avalon Way, Suite B
Brandon MS 39047
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text:
Liqui-Box Wins Technical Innovation Award for Sure Seal Dairy Films
Mar 09, 2016, 14:17 ET from Liqui-Box
RICHMOND, Va., March 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Liqui-Box, a world leader in flexible liquid packaging solutions, is proud to announce they are the recipient of an award that showcases their capabilities to design, develop and produce innovative flexible packaging technology. The Silver Award for Technical Innovation was presented to Liqui-Box for their development and commercialization of the Sure Seal™ line of flexible dairy pouch films.
The patented Sure Seal dairy film is a co-extruded packaging film for high speed vertical form fill and seal pouch applications in the dairy market. The film is comprised of a sealant skin layer made of a state-of-the-art, high hot-tack resin and a specially formulated core layer that provides both stiffness and toughness; all of which provides superior runability and leaker resistance while reducing film gauge.
Sure Seal film has been in production since June of 2015 and has been well accepted due to reliable sealing characteristics and reduced leaker rates. This innovative new film offering provides a step change in efficiency, quality and environmental footprint over the existing dairy pouch films in the market. The design and development of the Sure Seal film has led to enhanced runability on the filler with less down time and a significant reduction in the amount of leakers. All of these improvements were achieved while still retaining the required film stiffness to ensure ease of use for the consumer.
For more information on products and services from Liqui-Box please visit www.liquibox.com.
About Liqui-Box:
Liqui-Box is the leading innovator of sustainable packaging solutions for quick, fresh and cost efficient delivery of liquid and semi-liquid products. Liqui-Box manufactures bag-in-box flexible packaging and pouches to serve a wide variety of industries, including global dairy, beverage and bulk food markets. Applications include fountain beverage syrup, milkshake mix, coffee drinks, pumpable liquid foods such as concentrates and sauces, as well as non-food products like oils and paints. Liqui-Box offers the fastest filling equipment in the industry, along with consumable packaging, including film substrates, bags with fitments, and pouches. Liqui-Box is a portfolio company of The Sterling Group; a Houston-based middle market private equity firm with over 30 years experience improving and growing packaging and other industrial businesses.
Paul Kase
VP, Marketing & Strategy
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151208/294263LOGO
SOURCE Liqui-Box


text:
In this fourth and second-to-last book in the series, Cass and Max-Ernest set out on separate, yet equally dangerous, adventures.
Cass finds herself alone and disoriented, a stranger in a dream-like, medieval world. With the help of a long-lost relative, she begins to uncover clues and secrets—piecing together her family's history as she fights her way back to the present world.
Meanwhile, back home, Cass is at the hospital in a deep coma. Max-Ernest knows she ate Time Travel Chocolate—and he's determined to find a cure. Can our expert hypochondriac diagnose Cass's condition before it's too late? And will he have what it takes to save the survivalist?


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Because of our community, the Garden Patch grows!
Adopt-A-Plot requires no financial commitment to participate. We count on the enthusiasm and dedication of our Adopt-A-Plot teams to help us cultivate a beautiful, bountiful garden each year.
There are several types of costs associated with Adopt-A-Plot because of regular garden maintenance and programming. If you would like to contribute financially to the future and growth of our program, we have several sponsorship levels available.
Click the icon sponsorship level to donate online or call the SFBLC to contribute at (306) 664-6565. You will receive a tax-receipt for yourself or your company.
If you have any questions, or would like to discuss custom sponsorship opportunities please contact our Urban Agriculture Manager, Adrian, at 306.664.6565 or firstname.lastname@example.com


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Iraqi Gypsy Dance Kawleeya - الرقص العراقي كاولي
Description:Choreography by Giselle and Vanessa.
Music: Khala - Sajeda Obied.
Iraqi gypsy dance Kawleeya - الرقص العراقي كاولي
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Set Up | 2011
Former friends are pitted against one another after a diamond heist goes wrong.
Jump to
Cheetah Vision Films
Hedge Fund Film Partners
A group of friends plan out a detailed heist that turns deadly when one betrays the other by taking off with the goods. Taking matters into his own hands, Sonny seeks out his revenge teaming up with the most dangerous mob boss in town to get back what is rightfully his. When he finally comes face to face with his longtime friend, he will be forced to make a life changing choice.


text:
Celebrating April Fool's, One Day Early
When I posted about the Google doodle controversy yesterday, I missed what was the funniest point: the rightwingtards were all up in arms in part because many of them thought the doodle was in honor of Hugo Chavez, not Cesar Chavez. Oh well, what's the difference? They're both brown. And so Republican Latino outreach continues apace.
I got to wondering though, what with the portability of Easter, has it ever fallen on April 1? What if the original Easter was just an April Fool's joke? If the post from yesterday doesn't send me to hell, surely this latest musing will.
In the spirit of the day, I offer you this, which has been hanging around in My Pictures for quite some time now:
Happy April Fool's Day!
He Is Risen
Back after a long hiatus, to wish you a happy Easter.
Faithful readers of this blog, all 12 of them, may recall the 3 Weird Sisters classic, "Touchdown Jesus" Smited from several years ago, in which a monumental tacky Jesus sculpture erected by an Ohio megachurch was struck by lightning and burned to the ground.
Well, several months ago that church finished their new tacky monumental statue to replace the one that burned, and I have been saving the pictures from then until today just so I could use this headline. Behold the new, and one presumes, fireproof Jesus:
Which of course reminds me of this classic from the lamentably departed Poor Man:
This, however, is my favorite picture of the resurrection of the giant tacky megachurch Jesus statue:
Easter is, I must admit, about the most impenetrable holiday for me. The meaning, for those of us raised in homes that were at most religiously apathetic, extends to bunnies, baskets of goodies, and hunting for hidden eggs; in that context, it's a holiday you outgrow in adolescence. It becomes even more confusing when you consider the way it moves around on the calendar. Then there's the whole thing about breaking out the white shoes, buying new outfits, and celebrating by eating ham of all things, which Jesus as a Jew would not have eaten. Maybe the message there is that after he died for our sins and was resurrected, the reward was bacon. Well, as Eddie Izzard says in the clip below, you tell me.
Alternately, because wordpress apparently no longer supports youtube videos, see it here.
Also, because what would a religious holiday be without rightwinger outraged butthurt, the culture wars have erupted all over Fox News and the nutosphere, thanks to Google's unconscionable recognition of the day as Cesar Chavez' birthday, 20 years after his death. The offending doodle:
On Michelle Malkin's Twitchy (or as I call it, Tweaker) conservative alternative to Twitter, it was suggested that Google could have used a more holiday-appropriate theme, such as eggs, which of course reminded me of the Eddie Izzard bit above. As I told one complainant in blog comments elsewhere, who insisted the doodle was a "slap in the face" to Christians and claimed that from here on out, he would be using bing as his search engine…"so, what you're telling us is that Google, a private company, only recognized your portable religious holiday with a doodle on the date in the past 14 out of 15 years, but because they skipped one year, it's a slap in the face and you're going to switch to using an inferior product for conducting web searches as a result? That's a pretty weak-sauce version of getting thrown to the lions, bro." Funny how flexible that idea of a "free market" is when the actors in it don't mindlessly conform to the religious preferences/prejudices of the conservatives who are its most ardent defenders.
Silly me. I should know by now that Easter, like Christmas, is meant to remind us of the untold suffering and oppression the Christian majority in this country has endured as a result of the fact that not everyone believes exactly the same things they do.
About the Guns
In the week since the horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary, we've heard a lot of crazy ideas (as we do in the wake of every mass shooting) about how best to protect innocent unarmed civilians from nutters with guns. Today we'll be hearing from the NRA, whose position we already know will be that "guns don't kill people; crazy people with guns kill people." A true statement, but one that doesn't solve or even suggest a solution, which would have to involve keeping the most lethal weapons out of the hands of crazy people, which is a bridge too far for the NRA.*
There's a genuine conflict here: we do have a constitutional amendment guaranteeing people the right to own guns. Clearly we aren't going to be able to declare all of them illegal and force people to hand all of them over. Even if we could, I don't think I would favor it – there are millions of hunters in the country and many millions more who are responsible gun owners, who keep their weapons secure and own them only for home protection. In many cases, this is an imagined need, but nonetheless it's one that's not entirely unreasonable and it's a right that goes all the way back to British common law, which makes it a bit hard to argue against from a legal standpoint.
By and large, hunters and the owners of well-secured guns kept for home protection aren't the problem. They also aren't the ones buying semi-automatic weapons. Let's be honest: a semi-automatic rifle or handgun is an offensive weapon designed for military use, and as such, is not an appropriate weapon to allow anyone and everyone to own. There's a contingent of crazy that insists that one of the things the Founders had in mind when drafting the Second Amendment was keeping citizens armed in case of the need to overthrow a tyrannical government. Again, there may be truth in this – the Founders themselves had only recently thrown off a government they considered to be tyrannical, though its offenses and predations fell far short of the tyrannies we've seen enacted over and over again in the modern world.
Consider the context: the Founders lived in a time where the most powerful personal weapon was a muzzle-loader, which could fire off one shot every couple of minutes, or perhaps once per minute if the guy handling it was particularly adept at re-loading. It was an age where parity in firepower was possible – a group of average citizens, all armed with muzzle-loaders, would, with the exception of cannons, be as well-armed as an organized military of the same numbers.
That parity is not possible these days and indeed hasn't been for a century or more. It goes without saying that it wouldn't be desirable, either. We can't very well allow every citizen the right to own and keep any variety of weapons, including but not limited to hand grenades, shoulder-fired rocket launchers, or nuclear warheads. Those are all "arms" as well, and somehow we're able to agree that not everyone should have them and that there are no legal uses for them outside of a battlefield.
So why the hangup when it comes to semi-automatic weapons? They aren't used for hunting, and for home protection you don't need something that can fire off 30 – 100 rounds per minute. In fact, while handguns are the weapons most often chosen for home protection purposes, for most people, a shotgun would be a better choice, owing to less need for accurate aim (and really, just playing a recording of a shotgun being pumped would be enough to persuade all criminals aside from psychopaths to clear the premises immediately).
Once we've ruled out hunting and home protection, the semi-automatic's sole use is unavoidable: it is an offensive weapon, not intended for personal defense so much as for killing the other guy. Given that murder remains illegal, it's insane to insist that a weapon designed solely for killing multiple human beings in a minute or less should be readily available and legal to own for an average citizen. About the only purpose I've heard gun enthusiasts advance for which these types of weapons might have even a borderline legitimacy is that they are "fun to shoot." Perhaps so, but the Second Amendment isn't concerned with your personal enjoyment of any particular weapon; as such, I'd have to say that the right of crowds of citizens to not be slaughtered greatly outweighs any "fun" an enthusiast might experience in firing one of these weapons at a shooting range or elsewhere. People who have a burning desire to handle these types of weapons have the option of joining the military; outside of that, they don't need to be handling them.
As for those who persist in clinging to the idea that they have a "right" to own these types of weapons in the event that the evil gubmint gets too oppressive what with the seat-belts and the motorcycle helmet and the required food labeling laws and so forth, add them to the mental health registry: their belief that they could, with a semi-automatic weapon, fight off the fighter jets, targeted missiles, tanks, and other weaponry in our awesome military arsenal should the need arise, clearly marks them out as both paranoid and delusional; they are precisely the type of people who should NOT be running around with powerful, rapid-fire weapons.
Here's the thing: the Second Amendment says you have the right to own and keep a gun. It doesn't say what type of gun, and none of the guns in production today could have been anticipated by the Founders. If pistols were available in the late 1700's, they had only recently come on the scene; certainly there was no gun at the time capable of firing more than one shot without being re-loaded. The Second Amendment could be interpreted as the right to own a more modernized version of the single-shot firearms available when the Amendment was drafted, and nothing else – if we had a sane majority on the Supreme Court or in our political discourse. Instead, we'll probably spend the next weeks, months, and perhaps even years listening to ridiculous suggestions about how we can turn every public space into an armed camp to "protect" us against armed lunatics who should never have access to weapons in the first place, instead of dealing with the issue of having too many, too powerful, guns floating around. Already ruled out is the idea for a real ban on semi-automatics such as the one used in last Friday's shooting; we are told that even a ban on future sales of these weapons would do nothing to take care of the estimated 8 million of them already in citizens' hands. In other words, a buy-back program coupled with hefty fines for anyone caught with one after the deadline for turning them in, as was successful in Australia, is off the table. We don't know what number of murdered children would be required in order to even begin a serious political discussion about taking this very reasonable step, but the correct answer to the question is obviously "> 20."
I'm not going to belabor the transparent insanity of the suggestions being put forward by those who value cold hard steel more than young children's lives, but I will briefly recount them. First there's the camp who believes that the answer to mass shootings is more guns. According to these fine patriots, if all of us were packing heat, some citizen-Rambo would pick off the crazy guy with the gun before the body count gets too high. Never mind that never, not even once, has an armed civilian stopped a mass shooting by taking out the gunman. There have been a few times in low-profile cases where an off-duty policeman, former Marine, or other individual with career training in handling firearms stepped in and stopped a bad guy; there are about as many similar cases in which the would-be hero either almost shot the wrong guy or determined that an innocent bystander would be at risk if he took the shot. In other words, thanks to these guys not being average civilians with guns, the gunman was stopped without harm to innocent parties. Substituting the average citizen into these scenarios, most of whom have had nothing like the extensive training of police or members of the military, the likelihood in these scenarios is that even more people would get shot in the crossfire, law enforcement arriving on scene might mistake the hero for the bad guy, and so on and so forth. That's all true, but beside the point, which is: your right to own a weapon designed for offensive purposes does not trump MY right to not live in the Wild West or an armed camp. There's nothing in the Second Amendment to suggest that it trumps the express goal of the overall document, which I will remind the brethren, is to:
"…insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty…"
I feel that continuing to indulge the fetishes of a fringe group of maladapted, insecure and fearful people endangers or denies all of the above goals to the great majority of people in this country.
Then there are the proposals to turn schools into windowless bunkers patrolled by pistol-packing teachers and other school personnel. This one is interesting primarily because it's being advanced by the same folks who insist teachers are a bunch of overpaid incompetent boobs – but you can count on them to handle a gun around your kids every day!
We've heard again how "an armed society is a polite society," for all values of "polite" which equal "being afraid to say anything out of fear that the gun-toting Cletus at the next table in the bar might disagree."
The final, the piece de resistance of dumbassitude, goes to one Megan McArdle, formerly of The Atlantic, now decamped to The Daily Beast (Tina Brown sure knows how to pick them, doesn't she?), who suggested that we should teach children in this situation to rush the shooter. Because, according to Megs, it will unbalance him and throw him off if a bunch of people, even small ones, are running at him from different directions. It's also a sneaky way of blaming the victims – in this case six- and seven-year olds – for failing to save themselves when a guy who had no business with any type of gun managed to get his hands on a very powerful – and legal – one.
That's an awful lot of flailing FAIL to go through to arrive at the conclusion that the only thing that CAN'T be part of the problem is the gun itself, despite the fact that in these mass shootings, the gun is a tool performing the function for which it was designed, and that function is an illegal act for civilians.
We don't have to put up with this crap. We can insist on reasonable gun laws which both protect the rights of sportsmen and people to be secure in their homes while recognizing that some weapons have no place in civilian society. We can insist on background checks for any sale or trade of arms at any venue. We can insist that gun buyers be required to register their weapons, and that they demonstrate that they've completed some sort of training on safe handling and keeping of firearms, in order for those weapons to be legal. We can insist on not just a ban, but a buy-back program designed to get most of the most lethal weapons out of circulation. We can insist on a law that imposes heavy fines upon people found to have those types of weapons after a specific buy-back deadline. It won't get them all off the street, but getting 75 – 90% of them would be a good start. Sure, criminals will continue to get these types of weapons – but it's not criminals who have been shooting up our congressional meet-and-greets, our movie theaters, our houses of worship, our malls, and our schools. Criminals use guns primarily to help them obtain money or other goods illegally – they aren't interested in shooting little kids, or really anyone else, unless it furthers that goal. Crime is down overall, while mass shootings are up, and none of the gunmen in these cases have been hard-core criminals. If these types can't get their weapons legally, they're not likely to get them at all.
Finally, we can insist that the right of the majority for domestic tranquility trumps the right of a vocal minority to own a tool for which there is no constructive legal purpose.
In closing, I'll note that I lived a full third of my life in a home that was a virtual arsenal of guns. My father was an avid collector – mostly of military-issue guns from WWI and WWII – and other military paraphernalia. He didn't have any semi-automatics, because he was more a collector than a "mah gun gives me POWER" fetishist. I have no idea how many guns Dad had, but when they were auctioned after his death almost 20 years ago, they went for over $75,000. In short, it was a lot of guns. He wasn't a hunter and he rarely took out any of the guns and fired them. He did occasionally target practice at a gun range or other safe location, and for a time, he headed up a group for teenagers wanting to learn target shooting. The entire time I lived in the same house with him, I never saw a gun lying around unattended. In fact, I never saw a gun unless he had it out and was in the same room with it. If I had seen one out, I already knew that I wasn't to touch it. I learned how to shoot, but also knew I was never to have a gun in my hand unless my Dad was there and had handed it to me.
But the guns were a constant menace anyway. When we lived in Georgia, he stored his collection in an attic space that was fairly easy for him to access, and which he kept securely locked. After the move to Arkansas, he had no appropriate place in the house to store them, and so for the last 15 years of his life, they were packed away in crates that took up one end of the family room. We were instructed from a very young age to never tell anyone about Dad's guns. They weren't even insured, because Dad didn't want anyone knowing about all of them. His fear was more about robbery than government. So I grew up surrounded by an arsenal, which didn't make me feel any safer; we were far more likely to be murdered by gun thieves than by anything else.
After Dad died, the guns worried me even more, because now my Mom was alone in the house with a commodity eagerly sought-after by criminals. She contacted an auctioneer with some expertise in weapons, and within a year of my Dad's death, the collection was auctioned off in Illinois. It provided a great sense of relief to all of us.
Just a few years after my Dad's death, a gun collector in a town about 40 miles away went missing with his wife and young daughter at the same time his gun collection went missing. Some months later, the family's bodies were discovered in their vehicle, submerged in an abandoned flooded gravel pit. The crime was eventually traced to white supremacist Chevy Kehoe, after his infamous shoot-out with Ohio police. Proceeds from the theft went to fund terrorist activities, including bombing a government building. Just a few months after Dad's death, there was another robbery in a town only 75 miles away. No one was murdered in that theft, but the proceeds from it went to fund the Oklahoma City bombing. The trail of violence and terror from the flood of guns in this country doesn't end with the guns themselves.
Before Dad's collection went to auction, Mom offered each of us the chance to select anything we'd like to have. I didn't choose anything. Even one gun in close proximity would make me feel less secure than not having one.
*The NRA held its non-apologia before I was finished drafting this post; as expected, the guns aren't the problem. It's the mentally ill; better to compile a list of them than to stigmatize people who want to own deadly weapons by forcing them to register them. Video games are the problem; that's why all those kids are dead.
Mom and I had a discussion a few days following the Sandy Hook shootings. She said this event was finally going to change things; I was less sanguine. But something about that press conference felt like a Schiavo Moment. At one point, LaPierre is actually advocating for armed volunteers to police our schools. The insurance premiums to cover the risks associated with having armed non-employees on school property when children are present…well, he didn't offer any advice on where schools should go for the millions of dollars that would be required for that, should anyone be stupid enough to take such a dumbshit idea seriously and try to implement it.
Enough is enough. It's time, and well past the point, for us to stop allowing the radical, the paranoid and the profiteers to dictate what our policy will be. They can only get away with it again if we don't speak up and demand that they accept responsibility, and the limits to freedom that it sometimes requires in the real world.
Solo Christmas Post
It's been a slow month here at 3ws; I've been busy and, since my cohorts abandoned the place long ago (Lyta because blogging, she says, isn't really her thing, and Beth because she can no longer afford to be associated online with someone like me who isn't generally polite and uses really bad language – and who can blame her?), I've been a bit lax with posting. But I couldn't let the whole holiday season get by without at least one post, so below you'll find a David Sedaris reading of 6 to 8 Black Men, which is his take on Christmas in the Netherlands. It's a long piece in 3 parts but thoroughly enjoyable, so I recommend clicking through to parts 2 and 3, which you'll find below, when you've finished this one.
Just a word about the opening, though: it concerns something that is now, sadly, topical to recent events, while at the same time highlighting some of the insanities of US gun laws. I hadn't remembered the story opening with this until I went to grab it for posting. I'll be putting up something else about the insanities of US gun laws later, but didn't want that bit to come as a shock to anyone still feeling, as I am, a bit raw over what happened last Friday in Connecticut.
That having been said, enjoy the story.
Part 2:
Part 3:
The More Things Change….
Having recently had a few dollars of expendable cash for the first time in quite a while, I indulged in my favorite habit – going to the bookstore and buying books which I could check out for free from the public library, were I responsible enough to return them on time or organized enough to get myself to said library during operating hours. The library is only a mile away…but the bookstore is a mere five blocks from home, so it inevitably wins out every time, thanks not only to proximity but to the quirky way in which I choose my reading material, which is by browsing. In the bookstore, things are arranged by what's new, then by categories such as fiction, non-fiction, history, biography, natural sciences, etc. Much easier to browse than stacks organized according to the Dewey decimal system.
Anyway, one of my selections this time was Passionate Minds by David Bodanis, about Voltaire and his long-time aristocratic mistress Emilie du Chatelet – a love affair animated by shared intellectual passions. du Chatelet was an anomaly for the time – a woman motivated more by intellectual pursuits than fashion or court gossip, in an era where most women of the French aristocracy were uneducated, sometimes to the point of not even being able to write their own names.
Much of du Chatelet's energy went into finding an appropriate male promoter or sponsor for her intellectual pursuits, which she finally found in Voltaire. He was not her husband, of course, but adultery was the norm for the French aristocracy of the time and du Chatelet's husband, having his own dalliances on the side, raised no objections.
Her confidence boosted by her association with a man who truly respected her intellect, du Chatelet delved into explorations of Sir Issac Newton's theory of gravity. du Chatelet translated Newton's calculations from the geometry he used as mathematical proofs for his theory into the new calculus, both verifying Newton and making his work more accessible to future generations of scientists. She was also the first to theorize, correctly, that different colors of light in the spectrum had different temperatures, and among the first to recognize that light, as a substance, was composed of something other than mass.
What I found most interesting about the account, however, was not du Chatelet's story, nor Voltaire's, but the mise en scene in which their relationship played itself out. This was the France of the last Louis' – XIV, the Sun King; XV, who came to the throne at 5 years of age; and XVI, who left the throne a good foot shorter than when he assumed it.
I learned a few things I never knew, such as how different the aristocratic system was in France than it was in England. This should have been long evident to me, since looking back on it now I was aware that France never had a Magna Carta. As a result, the French aristocracy had both less power and more privilege in some ways than their English counterparts. The king alone had the power to raise someone to the nobility. Working was one of the quickest ways to lose a title; aristocrats were expected to do little or nothing. Dabbling was acceptable, as was high military command, but working for a living was not. Members of the aristocracy were not taxed – at all. Taxes were quite literally, as Leona Helmsley once put it, "for the little people." Considering that France was during the period almost perpetually at war with other European powers, one can only imagine the tax burden that must have devolved upon those who actually did the work of the nation, and wonder that it took them so long to revolt. Justice was similarly two-tiered; an aristocrat could – and often did – inflict violence upon a commoner without fear of reprisal. The system was set up to make sure the privileged remained so, and the rest kept to their proper place. Fairness entered into the scenario not at all.
If any of that sounds familiar, it's probably because it's more or less the platform for one of our two major political parties. We already know they're down with the idea that the privileged shouldn't be burdened with taxation, that those who actually do the work that produces wealth should also shoulder the burdens of funding government, including the cost of the world's largest military, and that we have a similar two-tiered system of justice, in which the man who steals billions or sickens thousands escapes punishment, while the man who steals the contents of a cash register serves decades behind bars.
The great irony here is that the party that proposes to restore this old order is the same one that makes a big deal out of disdain for France. Remember "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" and "freedom fries"? It turns out that, contrary to Donald Rumsfeld's dissing of "old Europe," that's the version they preferred. It's not "old Europe" or old France they have a problem with – it's the new version, the post-revolutionary one, in which ordinary people no longer know and keep to their place as drudges whose only value is generating wealth for a bunch of layabouts.
In an interesting parallel, time-share billionaire David Siegal, who is building a replica of Versailles as his personal residence, just last week sent out a letter to his employees warning of the dire consequences to their future employment prospects should Barack Obama be re-elected. This week, the billionaire Koch brothers followed suit. Just reminding the ordinary folks to remember their place – as drudges whose only value is in making sure that billionaires remain billionaires.
Which leaves me thinking that maybe they should stop exclusively focusing on the France of the ancien regime, and perhaps pay just a bit more attention to what immediately followed it and brought it to an end. As Louis XVI would no doubt tell them, the loss of a bit of your financial stature is nothing compared to the loss of a bit of your physical stature.
Schizophrenic State
As those who know me have long known, and as most others have guessed from my nom de blog, I am a denizen of the great state of Arkansas, the butt of our national jokes and general, all-purpose whipping boy. Trust me, a lot of that is deserved – look at our state rankings in education, health care, income, and any number of other measures, and it quickly becomes obvious that we don't have our shit together.
But one thing has long irked me, and that's the tendency of bloggers and others in the more-liberal-than-thou coastal areas to tar our state with the same reactionary brush they apply (correctly) to Texas, Mississippi, and other god-forsaken places. While it's true that Arkansas shares some regrettable traits with these places, including racism, general ignorance, and hyper-fundamentalist religiosity, it has a populist streak not found in those areas. Note that I said "populist", not "progressive." It's merely coincidental that some of the things that happen here politically look like the latter to outsiders; they without exception are the result of the former.
Thanks to that widespread misunderstanding, for the past month national publications have ballyhooed Arkansas' status as "the first Southern state" to put medical marijuana to the vote. It's true; the Compassionate Care Act will appear on our Nov. 6 ballot. But the first mistake in this media meme is the assumption that Arkansas is part of a monolithic South, which it isn't and never has been; error the second is in assuming that the development in any way indicates that progressivism is gaining purchase in Arkansas or in other areas of the old Confederacy.
The fact is, the initiative almost didn't make it to the ballot as a result of several rejections of the ballot title language by the state's Attorney General, an initial insufficient number of valid voter signatures on petitions, and a late Supreme Court challenge after the other hurdles had been cleared. Along the way, state lawmakers weighed in with the opinion that the measure was proof of the need to "reform" the initiative process – a concern that none of them voiced in regard to a casino amendment put forward by a private individual which, had it made it to the ballot and passed, would have allowed said individual to write into the state constitution a monopoly for herself on all casinos in the state, as well as set her own preferred tax rate, free from the interference of meddling officials actually elected by the people of the state. It's good to know our elected representatives have their priorities straight.
The court challenge came, as might have been predicted, from one of several religious political groups operating in Arkansas who see their mission as making sure that the rest of us don't do anything that they believe might make God mad; apparently their belief is that God gets pissed when people with debilitating illnesses experience less pain and discomfort. God gave them that illness – they should welcome it! It is His divine plan that the only relief should come from billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies.
The court challenge has actually been the most entertaining part of the whole story so far. Jerry Cox, head of the Family Council and someone I know from personal experience to be a less-than-honest operator, announced his group's intent to challenge the initiative, under the pretext that the ballot title didn't explain to voters all the problems that states which have passed medical marijuana laws have experienced as a result. I, who am not an attorney, thought "wow, that's some weak sauce; that can't be what he's planning on arguing to the court, because they don't care about that – they only care about whether or not the ballot title accurately describes what the law will do." I assumed there was some other argument with actual legal grounding that would be made; as it happens, I was wrong. In a very unusual move, the Court announced that they didn't want to hear oral arguments from either side; I interpreted that as being an indication that either they didn't intend to give Jerry Cox a soapbox or they intended to bend intepretation of the law to the breaking point in order to toss the initiative from the ballot. As it turns out, it was the former reason – the court handed down their ruling on Thursday and noted that the ballot title language was "free of partisan coloring," which was exactly what Cox and the Family Council were arguing was the reason it should be rejected – because it didn't make their argument for them in the ballot title wording.
So now, it's on to the election. My prediction? I think it's going to pass. The only polling done on the issue was back in May or June; at that time, 47% indicated support vs. 46% who were against. As I joked to my sister, half the people in the state have a family member or friend who's farming in the national forest, which in and of itself should be enough to put it over the top. But in all seriousness, while that may be a small factor, the bigger reason is that people here simply don't like being told what to do by outsiders. The Attorney General's insistence that the ballot title language include a reminder that marijuana is still illegal under federal law will, if anything, persuade some voters to vote in favor of the initiative. The old bootlegger vs. federal revenooers attitude is still alive and thriving in large pockets of the state. That attitude is a double-edged sword, to be sure: it's the same one that gave rise to the Central High crisis of 1957. But it continues to exert an influence that makes the state politically schizophrenic and impossible to pin down.
The other reason I think this will pass is purely anecdotal – over the past several months, in general conversation with several people who I would not expect to be supportive of the initiative, I've been surprised time and again when they not only bring up the issue but volunteer that they're planning on voting in favor of it. These are mostly people over the age of 50, some of whom are regular church-going folks, which leads me to believe that if the undercurrent of support is that strong in this group, it's going to pass.
Which means that after November, this will be a state in which same-sex marriage is prohibited by the state constitution, while medical marijiuana is legal – putting us a mere couple of years behind California, politically-culturally-speaking. This will surprise no one who knows anything at all about the state – we sent the first woman to the US Senate way back in the 1930's, then several decades later produced the fine specimen of a state legislator who coined the term "barefoot and pregnant." Obama is currently polling at about 35% here, while at the same time we have the only governor in the region – a Democrat re-elected in the Teabagger high-water-mark year of 2010 by a landslide – who has embraced the Medicaid expansion under his health care plan.
So the next time you're tempted to lump us in with the lunatics in Texas, Mississippi, or Oklahoma, just….don't. We're an island of sanity in comparison to the reactionary ignoramuses who surround us. That's a frightening thought, but we do get things right sometimes, though it's for different reasons than you might expect.
Mitt Romney: Gormless Motherfucker
Serendipitous coming so soon after my Labor Day observations:
Sounds like he's channeling Australian mining heiress Gina Rinehart, doesn't it? If all you poors would just step up to the plate and pony up your fair share of the taxes (read: at a higher rate than Rmoney pays) out of your paltry $20,000 per year earnings, then the noble Job Creators could catch a much-needed break on their taxes.
I can't wait to see polling numbers at the end of this week. It's beginning to look a lot like a landslide.


text:
Avengers Academy #32
Avengers vs. X-Men #6
Baltimore: Dr. Leskovar's Remedy #1
Birds of Prey #10
Daredevil #14
Dark Avengers#176
Grim Leaper #2
New Avengers #27
Secret Avengers #28
Wonder Woman #10
Uncanny X-Men #14
Posted by Ken Boehm at 9:30 PM
Thought Bubbles: Avengers Academy, Avengers vs X-Men, Birds of Prey, Comic Book Moments of the Week, Daredevil, Dark Avengers, Grim Leaper, Lord Baltimore, New Avengers, Secret Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Wonder Woman
So sick of the Avengers finding a way to justify going into a sovereign nation. Twice. Way to make my heroes look like mutant oppressors.
Uncanny X-Men was soooooo twisted! I love it! It seems like Gillen is more himself when Greg Land isn't drawing. It's not just the artwork either; I feel like the stories are so bland when Land is drawing.
I didn't like the retcon of Iron Fist, but I'm just glad he's getting some air time. It seems like he's going to have a major role later in AvX.
This week's last page of The Darkness has got to be the Oh Sh*t Moment of the Year! If you've been reading the last arc anyway. Otherwise, it won't make that much sense.
What exactly is the avengers justification?
@ anon #4, that's a good question. Cuz I don't know either...
@anon#4 I don't think they have a great idea either. They just know that Hope was the Phoenix's original target, so they're hoping that if they have her they'll be able to do.....something. They don't know what yet.
Man black canary flying is dumb. She was my favorite charecter pre 52. Doesn't even make sense. Know what's cooler than flying? A motorcycle.
@Klep I wasn't questioning their plan , I'm questioning their justification to stop cyclops and the others can anyone tell me?
Wait, Emma Frost saw Iron Giant?
@anon8 Their justification, I believe, is that Cyclops et. al. are toying with powers they can't hope to control and that it will inevitably blow up in their faces.
Phoenix guys imposing their vision, their will, damn facists...read Gruenwald's Squadron Supreme to see how this will end. Unoriginal.
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Great post. Thanks
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My name is Kirk Warren and I'm a full time comic fan blowing my pay cheques on way too many comics every week.
Back in the early 90's, my mother bought me a Spider-Man comic to shut me up on a trip. I didn't know it at the time, but that moment changed my life. Since then I've become a full blown comic fan and now purchase well in excess of 20 comics per month plus trades and other comic related goods.
As you can see, I've taken my hobby to the next step with this blog and it's allowed me to connect every single day with thousands of people that share the same passion I have for comics and I wouldn't change that for the world.
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