March 30, 2006
A tiger walks in Cullman, Alabama
I keep forgetting about this bit of news:
Residents of the Berlin community were surprised Thursday night when they spotted a tiger roaming the neighborhood.[...]
Blackwood said Lt. Phillip Patterson and Cpl. Keith Marbut responded to the scene.
"They talked to several neighbors who also saw the tiger," Blackwood said.
They searched the area, he said, but never came in contact with the tiger that Blackwood said was described as a full-grown animal coming to about waist-high on an adult male.
Cullman County Animal Control Officer Tim McKoy said he spent the better part of Friday at the scene, looking for signs of the animal and talking to witnesses.
He said the woman who called in initially described the animal as a Bengal tiger, with reddish-orange coloring and black stripes.
If it is a fully adult male, it could weigh anywhere from 300 to 600 pounds, McKoy said.
He said that he could not find any concrete evidence of the tiger at the scene — no tracks, hair or markings on trees. One reason he might not have found markings, he said, is because many domesticated exotic animals like tigers are usually declawed and have their canine teeth removed. That could affect how the animal would search for food, possibly even causing it to starve, McKoy said.
McKoy added that the Bengal tiger is a nocturnal animal, meaning it moves mostly at night.
Posted by Groonk at 07:52 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Animals, Local News
January 04, 2006
Some local mags
The Valley Planet
(best entertainment rag Huntsville, AL has ever had)
More to follow.
Posted by Groonk at 08:34 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, eMag
December 01, 2005
Huntsville's Memorial Parkway 50 Years Old Today
I didn't know the old girl was that old.
Another interesting fact about the decade it was built in. In 1950, Huntsville was "watercress capital of the world" in the "old" south. Population: 16,000
Huntsville was probably the fastest growing city for its size in the entire country. It's population almost doubled again to 137,000 in 1970. This sudden growth threw the planners of the Eisenhower Interstate System offhand, as Decatur was the largest city in northern Alabama in 1950, thus the reason for the present routing of I-65. In fact, Huntsville was the largest city in the US (that wasn't the suburb of some larger city) without direct access to the interstate system until I-565 opened fully into the city. That was in October of 1992, IIRC.
For all you Urban Planning Buffs: firstly, I never knew such a "buff" existed and secondly, there are more facts on the deathtrap that is Memorial Parkway Huntsville.
(fun facts via railclaimore, main facts via hsv livejournal)
Posted by Groonk at 05:46 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
October 05, 2005
I missed being on The Daily Show by that much
On the plus side I got a master list of Oktoberfests in the USA.
Oktoberfest Committee President Bob Kurtz said a crew of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" will be in Cullman Monday to record Oktoberfest activities throughout the day and that night at the tent behind the Cullman County Museum. The focus of the spot will be that the celebration held inside a dry county does not include beer.
[...]
Cullman has been hit in the past with national media attention poking fun that Cullman's annual celebration of its heritage is a dry Oktoberfest that doesn't have a lot of oomp-pah-pah to it.
But those taking part in the first night of the 10-day event said that beer is not a prerequisite for having a good time at Oktoberfest.
...
It's an Oktoberfest. Ok-to-ber-fest. That means stout german women carrying four mugs of ale in two hands.
Dancing.
Singing.
Merriment.
Dictonary.com describes it as "An autumn festival that usually emphasizes merrymaking and the consumption of beer."
Don't make me come down their with a pony keg and a purpose.
(via dunc!)
Posted by Groonk at 02:02 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
August 30, 2005
Katrina: She Meant Business
Al.com has a Storm Central blog up containing news and information on how Katrina is affecting Alabama.
(via yahoo news)
Posted by Groonk at 02:19 PM | Comments (2) | Ministry of History, Local News, Research, USA
April 16, 2005
Just before 10 A.M.
EVERGREEN, Ala. (AP) - A man who allegedly has been flashing motorists on Interstate 65 for months was caught in a police chase when a tire blew out on his getaway vehicle. He was wearing only tennis shoes.Mark D. Estis, 45, was arrested after motorists reported seeing a naked man just before 10 a.m. Thursday on the interstate, about 9 miles southwest of Evergreen.
There's something about that line, 'motorists reported seeing a naked man just before 10 a.m,' that makes me laugh.
A lot.
(via 7d)
Posted by Groonk at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
March 22, 2005
HSV Hot Ticket
Tons of cheap flights outta Huntsville, AL on this sucker.
Posted by Groonk at 02:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
January 30, 2005
Bridge Street Huntsville
Water taxis? A microbrew? European style shopping spree?
Not to be overly cynical but I wonder just how Huntsville will fuck up this deal.
Similar rejuvenation plans were in the works for downtown not 2 years ago.
Posted by Groonk at 06:00 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
December 17, 2004
Wiki Huntsville, AL
Something I did know:
Huntsville's contributions to United States Cold War missile armament and technology earned it a "red star" designation as a target of the Soviet Union in the event of a nuclear exchange, fourth behind only New York City, Washington, DC, and NORAD.
Something I didn't know:
Before Huntsville earned the moniker "Rocket City" along with its rapid growth, it was known as the Watercress Capital of the World. Watercress grew along the stream from the Big Spring downtown.
Posted by Groonk at 09:28 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
December 09, 2004
Animal Outage
That damn raccoon wiped out not one but two of my writing efforts that day. I was so mad I could spit.
And I did.
The scene for much of Huntsville Monday evening was dark. The power was out for nearly a third of the city--some 44,000 customers. Store fronts were dark, traffic lights were out, and the evening commute was less than pleasant.The culprit was a raccoon that got into one of the city's six TVA connection substations.
"A substation is basically composed of steel, wires, electric devices, and mechanical devices, and there are a number of places that are uninsulated, where an animal can get on to the equipment and be electrocuted, and that's what happened yesterday," says Bill Yell of Huntsville Utilities.
Posted by Groonk at 06:03 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
November 04, 2004
Alabama keeps Amendment 2
Please note:
Anyone who ever says the state of Alabama is not a bad place to live WILL have their face bashed right-the-fuck in.
Constitutional Amendment 2 has lost by just over 3,000 votes.The vote totals are not official, but the secretary of state's office said that provisional ballots across the state likely will not change the failure of Amendment 2 or bring on a re-count.
[...]
Hornbuckle worried that Amendment 2 was a backdoor to higher taxes and didn’t think out-dated racist laws were a problem for the modern black community.
And you best pray to whatever god you believe in that I'm not as pissed off as I am right the fuck now.
I enhanced my calm. You'll only be black and blue now.
Posted by Groonk at 06:37 PM | Comments (2) | Ministry of Local News
October 27, 2004
Eclipsed, again
There's a lunar eclipse tonight, folks. Get yer butts outside and view this celestial event.
Posted by Groonk at 02:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
October 20, 2004
Flying Monkey Arts
I was trying to track down a local club's URL. I failed. I did find this Flying Monkey Arts theatre type thing.
It's located in the Lowe Mill which is located in one of the dodgier areas of Huntsville, AL which can only add to the fun.
Scanning ahead to 2005 I discovered the Sex Workers Art Show is coming here.
No idea what that is, but 'sex" in the title helps with The Sell(tm).
Posted by Groonk at 02:38 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Culture, Local News
September 22, 2004
Some local fodder
Local to me anyway.
There seem to be a number of reasons why Huntsville is an 11 a.m. lunch town: the early start many workers get, the need to align schedules with colleagues working on the east and west coasts and overseas and the self-fulfilling get-there-first approach.[...]
Lunchtime is different in other places, said Larry Fidel, president of the Alabama Restaurant Association."It's not that way in Montgomery; lunch there starts after 12," Fidel said. "I travel all over and I don't see an earlier lunch than (in Huntsville) anywhere else in the country."
A bit benign, I know. It's sticking with me though.
Posted by Groonk at 01:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
August 13, 2004
Dubya Impersonator
When i saw this man on WAFF news...it freaked my shit.
He's gonna be at the VBC.
Posted by Groonk at 06:47 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Weird
August 04, 2004
Probing Deeper and Harder
AVN is looking deeper into the Alabama Sex Toy Ban bullshit.
The appeals court noted that Federal District Judge Lynwood Smith, Jr. had “concluded that there was no currently recognized fundamental right to use sexual devices and declined the ACLU’s invitation to create such a right,” but that in an opinion following the first remand, “[a]fter a lengthy discussion of the history of sex in America, the district court announced a fundamental right to ‘sexual privacy,’ which, although unrecognized under any existing Supreme Court precedent, the district court found to be deeply rooted in the history and traditions of our nation.”Judge Birch then spent 40 pages attempting to explain why that view was incorrect, often referring to a 1997 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Washington v. Glucksberg, involving assisted suicide, which Judge Birch used to draw a fine (some would say non-existent) line between the private ownership and use of sex toys and the sale of same.
However, Judge Rosemary Barkett, writing in dissent, proclaimed that the case was about far more than selling vibrators.
“This case is not, as the majority’s demeaning and dismissive analysis suggests, about sex or about sexual devices,” wrote Judge Barkett, who penned the excellent opinion in the Peek-A-Boo Lounge case last year. “It is about the tradition of American citizens from the inception of our democracy to value the constitutionally protected right to be left alone in the privacy of their bedrooms and personal relationships.”
Also check out "Alabama Crossover" Nipple Clamps
Posted by Groonk at 08:41 AM | Comments (1) | Ministry of Local News, Sex
July 29, 2004
You can sell a gun in Alabama but not a dildo
What... I just don't... Ah hell. I can't even fake surprise:
The short of it:
A decision issued yesterday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Alabama doesn't have to lift its silly, arcane 1998 law banning the sale of sex toys. The Constitution does not include a right to sexual privacy, the panel of three judges ruled. Many Americans would disagree, including this one. To paraphrase Andrew Orlowski's brilliant quip about the INDUCE Act, under this law one could stroll down Alabama's southern streets selling semiautomatic rifles and dildos, and be arrested for the dildos.
The officialness:
In this case, the American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU") invites us to add a new right to the current catalogue of fundamental rights under the Constitution: a right to sexual privacy. It further asks us to declare Alabama's statute prohibiting the sale of "sex toys" to be an impermissible burden on this right. Alabama responds that the statute exercises a time-honored use of state police power -- restricting the sale of sex. We are compelled to agree with Alabama and must decline the ACLU's invitation. (...) Alabama's Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act prohibits, among other things, the commercial distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for any thing of pecuniary value."
Alabama state gun laws in PDF.
Boingboing is inviting massive civil disobedience. They say that FreeTheAlabamaVibrator.com is still open. Someone else has to buy it cause I don't have the funds.
Wish I did.
One last bit. This noise came down on National Orgasm Week.
Fcuk this state to hell and back.
Fleshbot fills out more news on this bass ackward law.
They're also offering rewards:
To hammer away at this ridiculous law and show our support to the horny souls of the Yellowhammer State, we're offering three $50 gift certificates from Eros Boutique to the three readers who come up with the best sex-toy related protest items, either by way of a vibemod prototype or Photoshopped creation. Confederate Flag Ticklers? Birmingham Ben-Wa Balls? Crimson Tide Cock Rings? Send your ideas and photos here.
Posted by Groonk at 09:37 AM | Comments (2) | Ministry of Local News, Sex
July 17, 2004
18 year old for mayor of Albertville
I give the kid an 'A' for chutzpah. He gets an 'F-' for the web page.
ALBERTVILLE - Garon Bailey didn't talk to his parents about running for mayor of Albertville until after he qualified earlier this month at City Hall."They thought it was funny," said Bailey, who turned 18 in April. This candidate for mayor makes spending money for gas for his car and other necessities at Food World in Guntersville, where he has worked two years. Among his favorite books, he said, is "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand. His only pet is a cockatiel named Bernie.
Despite his age, Bailey may have as good a chance as anyone in a field of seven candidates to make a runoff after the Aug. 24 election.
Posted by Groonk at 08:11 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
July 01, 2004
Bad cop, bad cop..whatcha gonna do?
7d has the most interesting neighbors:
A press release from Albertville Police Chief Benny Womack stating he had “terminated for violations of the police department’s and city’s policies and procedures” two of his police officers sworn to “protect and serve” has left a pall of frustration and wounded the pride of Albertville’s finest this week.
So that's what they call banging hookers in their squad cars.
I've made a mental note.
Posted by Groonk at 06:11 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
June 08, 2004
Concerts in the Park 2004
This is local noise.
Huntsville, AL – The Arts Council, Inc. is pleased to announce the 2004 Concerts In The Park summer concert series. The concerts will begin on Monday, June 7, and run through September 6. The concerts run from 6:30 p.m.– 8:00 p.m. with the exception of the season finale concert, which will start at 6:00 p.m. and end at 9:00 p.m. The concerts are held each Monday evening in Big Spring International Park, in downtown Huntsville.
I plan on attending next Monday.
Posted by Groonk at 02:32 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
June 02, 2004
Bill Beware
This happened in Huntsville and I heard jack crap about it.
A west Huntsville man was critically wounded Sunday after allegedly threatening with a sword a neighbor and a responding city police officer. The officer shot the man, James Bowker, 45. The unidentified neighbor was unharmed.[...]
A woman identifying herself as Karen Bowker told The Times that Bowker, her husband, was drinking, waving a pistol and beginning to get violent in their mobile home.
A neighbor, identified by Karen Bowker only as "Bill," confronted her husband, she said. Some time during the encounter, the neighbor wrested the pistol away, said police Lt. Barry Pendergraft, shift supervisor.
I wonder if there is a backstory invovling a bloody tale of revenge.
Posted by Groonk at 04:41 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Weird
May 25, 2004
Suspicious Truck just outside Birmingham
Some Homeland Security noise that's close to home. Mine that is.
FBI agents, Birmingham and Gardendale police have pulled over an 18-wheel truck and have closed the highway.
Secret Service agents tell NBC13 this incident has something to do with homeland security.
The truck was stopped on the northbound lanes of the interstate. Traffic on I-65 was being diverted onto the Fieldstown exit earlier Tuesday morning, but several lanes have now been reopened to the public.
via 7d
Update: from MedicMike
FBI (website) spokesman Jeff Fuqua said federal law enforcement learned of a tractor-trailer rig traveling with an altered tag and notified police.Fuqua said officers from Birmingham and Gardendale stopped the vehicle, and a police dog indicated the presence of explosives.
The interstate was reopened after a search of the truck found nothing dangerous.
Fuqua said -- quote -- "it turned out to be a whole lot of nothing."
He said the driver of the truck was given a ticket for having an improper tag.
Posted by Groonk at 01:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
May 20, 2004
Survivor's in Huntsville
Pentacleus thinks I should try this noise. I'm not so sure. What do you kids think?
Think you have what it takes to win $1,000,000 on CBS's Survivor? Here is your chance! NewsChannel 19, a CBS affiliate, will be holding an open casting call on June 10 & 11 in Huntsville. Much like Survivor 10's location, it is top secret. We'll announce it soon! Check back!
via 7d
Posted by Groonk at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
May 18, 2004
Stephen Baldwin's gonna make Christianity cool
This clip got longer and longer the more I read. I had to call on my inner editor at one point.
Baldwin said he became a Christian after watching his wife immersed in Bible study and prayer."I watched her devoutly in prayer every day," Baldwin said. "It really blew my mind."
At first he didn't know how to react, he said. "One of the smartest things you can do in a marriage when you're scared is keep your mouth shut," she said. "She was my wife and best friend. Every morning and evening, she spent 30 to 45 minutes in prayer. She still does it. I clearly saw less of a worry in her personality in regard to the things of the world."
But he attended a Luis Palau Evangelistic Association festival that featured a skateboarding park, which he saw right as an opportunity to "make Christianity cool."
He suggested the possibility of an extreme sports documentary on Christian skateboarders and motocross bikers.
"I said, 'I wonder if there's something we can do,'" Baldwin said. "I'll edit it for you; we'll put it to cool music."
So he became the host and director of a PalauFest Productions DVD called "Livin' It," which mixes footage of eight top skaters and four top BMX riders in action, along with features on their faith. It's being used as an evangelistic outreach.
via AL Nightlife
Posted by Groonk at 08:53 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Religion
Jubilee! (May 29-31, 2004)
M@ dropped word on the Alabama Jubilee Hot-Air Balloon Classic.
I may have to check that noise out.
Posted by Groonk at 06:39 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
May 11, 2004
Alabama Lags Behind Nation In College Graduation Rate
Oh, I could tell a story and I'm gonna in the next few days.
12:05 p.m. CDT May 11, 2004 - According to Census Bureau data released on Monday, about one in every five adult Alabamians has earned a bachelor's or higher degree. That number puts the state among the least-educated in the nation.In 2002, 20.6 percent of Alabama residents over the age of 25 had a college degree, giving the state the 44th-lowest percentage in the United States.
While that number is five points below the national average, it is an improvement from 2001, when 19.4 percent of Alabama adults held a bachelor's or higher degree.
via 7d
Posted by Groonk at 04:44 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
April 26, 2004
No. Fucking. Way.
Let me get this straight...I live in a state where they honor people who tried to overthrow the goverment.
If these confederates had won, the world as we know it would be drastically different.
I've lived here all my life and never heard of this Confederate holiday.
What the fuck is going on here?!
(Montgomery-AP) -- Confederate flags waved and cannons boomed today at the state Capitol as Governor Riley and several hundred other people used Confederate Memorial Day to celebrate the restoration of the Confederate Monument. The state spent near $232,000 in federal funds to renovate 70-foot-tall monument on the north side of the Capitol.Riley told the crowd that the monument needed to be restored because Alabamians today are the caretakers of the memories of those who fought and died in the Civil War.
The ceremony attracted members of several Confederate heritage groups, as well as interested citizens.
Donna McKeown of Greenville says she brought her four children because she had at least 30 ancestors who fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
And
In his remarks, Reeder said that battle flag is not an emblem of hate, and that he gets angry when people exploit it as a racist symbol. He said people can best honor the flag and the soldiers by living up to the best ideals they represented.
I hate to contest you Reverend but the context of the confederate flag is not the same in this day and age. If it ever had a decent meaning.
Just as the swastika is a perverted version of it's original positive form.
The confederate flag has a lot of hate and blood on it.
Informed by 7d. Rantings by groonk.
Posted by Groonk at 04:22 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Local News, USA
March 11, 2004
Good while it lasted
via 7d
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) -- A fire early Thursday gutted the pre-Civil War freight depot, a historic downtown building that was one of the oldest railroad structures in the state.Huntsville Fire & Rescue spokesman Jay Gates said the building, which was built in the 1850s and was believed to be empty, went up in flames quickly.
"Once the fire got going, it was hard to deal with," he said. "We're talking about an old building with floors that were soaked with oil from years of use."
Posted by Groonk at 02:06 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
March 01, 2004
Alabama students overtested?
A fine example of people who don't know how to think outside the box:
"Ever since there has been a schoolhouse, there has been a test," said Jo Ann Webb, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education. "I don't know of any other way to test what students are learning."Depending on their grade level, elementary and middle school students must take some or all of the following tests:
Stanford Achievement Test, Alabama Direct Assessment of Writing, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) test.
Joining that lineup this year is the new Alabama Reading and Math Test, which will be given to third-, fifth- and seventh-graders.
All of you smartasses who say, "but groonk, there is no box," can piss off. Yes, I know there is no "box." I'm just coining phrases.
via 7d
Posted by Groonk at 01:11 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
January 23, 2004
Upturned
Here's some local weirdness
Looks like litter, but like everywhere else, traffic on Highway 72 flows right side up. It's the trash that's upside down."Like overnight," Gurley resident Craig Kent explains how they appeared. "They weren't there one day and then the next day they were."
Mile after mile of bottom-up bottles. But who did this? And why?
"Maybe some prisoner had done it because he was mad at having to pick them up," Kent throws out.
"Aliens?" Ava Kent jokes.
From sky to ground, all of them jammed into ant hills.
But landscaper Bill Cain says bottles are bunk for battling ants. "It could be something like that, I don't know."
My local news just said it is some engineer who walks the road pickign up garbage. For some unknown reason he leaves some of the bottles upturned in ant hills.
Engineer Nation, please explain yourselves.
Posted by Groonk at 06:17 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Weird
January 06, 2004
Dead Sea scrolls go local
By YVONNE BETOWT
Times Religion Editor
Eleven-year-old Jonathan Perz II thought the Gutenberg Bible was "cool."His four sisters had their own opinions of the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit that opened Monday at the Von Braun Center: Hannah, 9, liked the widow's mite artifact; Sarah, 8, thought the oil lamp was "neat"; Julia, 4, enjoyed looking at the Bibles; and Leah, 6, "liked everything."
The Perz children were on a combination field trip/birthday celebration for them and their father, Jonathan Perz, minister of the Moody Church of Christ near Leeds, who turned 34 Sunday. His wife, Sally, thought a visit to the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit would be a nice birthday present - and he agreed.
"They really pulled a fast one on me," said Perz, who moved to Alabama from Wisconsin a year ago. "I didn't even know the exhibit was here until the family told me we were coming to it. It's fascinating and amazing to see these types of things. We just don't know how fortunate we are to have access to the Scriptures. These (Bibles) were chained to the pulpits to keep people from stealing them."
Sally Perz, who home-schools their children, said they had recently studied the Middle Ages. She thought the exhibit would be a good field trip for her children.
Posted by Groonk at 02:43 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of History, Local News, Religion
December 12, 2003
And the sky was full of holes
Only one hole actually:
Notice the Phoenix effect going on in the middle? That means Jean Grey has returned.
Or you can go with the sane persons explanation:
"The atmosphere was very dry from about 5,000 to 28,000 feet. There was a rather extensive deck of cirrocumulus (mixture of 'super cooled' water droplets and ice crystals) invading the sky associated with strong westerly jet stream winds. However, the 'hole-punch' features were aligned north/south. This suggests that there was some sort of 'wave' in the atmosphere that was causing rising/sinking air couplets.
This would cause ice crystals in the descending portion of the wave to fall into the super cooled (liquid) cloud layer. When this occurs, the ice crystals grow (at the expense of the liquid droplets). Therefore, a hole opened in the deck of cirrocumulus.
This process is similar to the principle used in cloud seeding to make cloud particles larger and produce precipitation. In this case, the precipitation aloft (meteorological term is 'virga') descended into the dry air below 28,000 feet and evaporated (actually, the proper term for this process is 'sublimated'). The virga is evident in a few of the pictures descending from the center of the hole in the clouds. This resulted in a cone-shaped cloud high in the atmosphere"
But who needs sanity?
Most excellent pic sent by MedicMike.
Posted by Groonk at 06:26 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Photos
December 01, 2003
Rock on, guy!
He's a bona fide inspiration. He grew up, and was stuck in, the same area I was raised:
Jason Nix Opelika-Auburn News While hundreds of Lee Countians have gone to the movie theater to check out The Matrix: Revolutions, it's unlikely many of them stayed long enough to watch as the credit scroll across the screen. If they had, they might have noticed the name "Cameron Folds," along with the dozens of other computer effects animators who helped make the film one of the most technically-advanced ever to come out of Hollywood.Behind this name is the story of a young man from Beauregard who felt he never really fit in -- a young man who had a clear idea of what he wanted to do in life and the determination to see it through. It's the story of a young man who faced hardship after hardship, and who now lives his dream on the opposite end of the country.
"Cameron stuck out like a sore thumb in Beauregard," recalls his sister, Melanie Smith, who still lives in Lee County. "He was into baggy clothes and skateboarding. He had dyed hair. He just didn't look like anyone around him and was miserable in school. It seemed like he was just waiting for something different.
"He just didn't want to do factory work his whole life. It just wasn't him."
Upon graduating from Beauregard high school in 1995, Folds worked odd job after odd job: a fast food gig, a stint at Briggs and Stratton, time spent in a pizza shop. Folds eventually landed a job at al local cabinet factory that paid enough for him to begin saving money.
After hearing of a school in San Francisco called Expression Center for New Media, which offers immersion training programs in computer animation, Folds knew he had found his ticket.
"It was all he talked about," said his sister. "The whole family was pulling for him to go, because we knew he could make it."
Folds applied to the school, was accepted, and set about trying to figure out how to pay for it. Along with his girlfriend, an Auburn University education major from Florence named Jamela Smith, Folds worked as many hours as possible to save money for the move to San Francisco.
In 1999, Folds' mother, Dolores Hagans-Folds, died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 49. What might have proved a setback for the young man proved an inspiration.
"She always wanted me to pursue my dream," Folds said from a cell phone while standing on a sidewalk in San Francisco. "I knew I'd go."
By June of 2001, Cameron and Jamela had saved up enough to make their leap of faith. Jamela landed a job at the English department of an alternative high school for at-risk teens; Cameron threw himself into his course work.
"For 14 months, I was at the school pretty much all the time," Folds recalled. "They call it a total immersion program, and you learn quickly or wash out. It's pretty intense."
Having grown up watching horror movies and reading magazines like Fangoria, Folds found himself drifting toward the movie special effects specialization. Upon his graduation, he landed a freelance job with ESC entertainment, a company formed by Warner Bros. Entertainment to do digital animation for the Matrix series.
"This is kind of the first step to do a lot more movie work," Folds said. "I'm in the right place to make the right kind of connections, and there's no limit once you get to know the right people."
Though he misses his family at times, Folds said he has no regrets in moving so far away from home.
"It's a completely different culture out here," he said. "I like that I can walk down the sidewalk and hear seven different languages.
"At Beauregard, there were no art classes I could take, but there always seemed to be money for the football program. If you're a student in Alabama and you're not into sports, it's hard to find anything else. People like me end up moving somewhere else. I wish it wasn't that way."
Posted by Groonk at 03:03 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
November 19, 2003
Alabama won't recognize same-sex unions
MONTGOMERY - Attorney General Bill Pryor said Tuesday's ruling on same-sex marriages by Massachusetts' highest court will not affect Alabama.Alabama law bans same-sex marriages, Pryor said. He said Alabama, under state and federal law, does not recognize same-sex marriages or civil unions from other states.
"No state that has a Defense of Marriage Act of its own has to recognize anything that is essentially the equivalent of a same-sex marriage," Pryor said.
Pryor commented after Massachusetts' highest court ruled that people have "the right to marry the person of one's choice," no matter the person's gender. Saying the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, the court gave lawmakers 180 days to come up with a plan to allow gay couples to wed. While same-sex marriage is banned in Alabama, University of Alabama law Professor Bryan Fair said it may not be a few years from now if the U.S. Supreme Court hears a case on same-sex marriage.
Alabama doesn't have forward thinking.
The deuce you say. Everyone knows it's always been a bastion for all people's civil rights.
Posted by Groonk at 12:12 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
November 13, 2003
Damn well took long enough
(via 7d)
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Reuters) - Alabama's chief justice was removed from office on Thursday for refusing to obey a federal order to move a Ten Commandments monument in a dispute that fueled a national debate over the place of God in public life.
The nine members of Alabama's Court of the Judiciary unanimously voted to remove Roy Moore, who was elected to a six-year term as the state's top judge in 2000.
"Finding no other viable alternatives, this court hereby finds that Roy S. Moore be removed from his position as chief justice of Alabama," said Judge William Thompson, a member of the judicial panel. Thompson said Moore "willfully and publicly" defied a U.S. district judge's order to move a 5,000-pound monument from public view in the state judicial building, placing himself above the law in doing so. Thompson also said Moore "showed no signs of contrition for his actions."
The stone marker was removed from the rotunda of the state courthouse on Aug. 27 and has been stored in a closet since then. The U.S. Supreme Court last
Posted by Groonk at 03:31 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Religion
October 30, 2003
Quotable Sanders
By CHALLEN STEPHENS
Times Staff Writer challens@htimes.com
One month ago today, Stephanie Sanders took her two dogs, Mr. T and Cruiser, and left Huntsville for a new life in California. Today, Sanders has wildfires raging on three sides of where she lives."This is all pretty new," said Sanders on Monday. "I won't say I'm scared. I'm concerned. I'm more upset because several fires were set by arsonists. These are just horrendous acts."
Sanders, 30, grew up in Huntsville. When the headquarters for the Web site Alabama Live, also known as al.com, moved from Huntsville to Birmingham, Sanders decided to try California instead.
She is renting a house in Lake Elsinore, a small community just east of Orange County. But she works at a Target store in Corona, which is south of Rancho Cucamonga and San Bernadino. That's where two of the most destructive wildfires merged Sunday. Even 15 miles away, the sun was obscured, she said.
"It looked like the sky when a tornado is coming in, ominous, black," said Sanders. "In Corona, you couldn't see anything."
Down the road in Lake Elsinore, life continues as normal, she said. No roads are closed. The sun was out Monday but it's hard to ignore the news.
About a dozen miles south of Lake Elsinore, a small wildfire burned on Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base in northern San Diego County. South of that, another burned near Escondido and a massive blaze, called the Cedar Fire, has destroyed more than 100 homes in San Diego suburbs.
On Sunday, a new blaze, called the Sage fire, began burning several thousand acres in the rural area to the east of Lake Elsinore.
"They're kind of all around us. We're isolated in the middle," said Sanders.
Her house sits near a dry, undeveloped hillside of tumbleweed and other bramble, all fuel for wildfires. Still, she wasn't worried as of Monday afternoon. If any of the fires draw closer, she said, she will pack an emergency bag of irreplaceable mementos and prepare to speed away.
When asked what message she had for Huntsville, she asked that people contribute to the Red Cross to help people who lost homes.
Fires have destroyed more than 1,100 homes and are threatening as many as 30,000 more throughout Southern California.
"I would encourage those who would like to help to make a contribution," said Sanders.
Posted by Groonk at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
October 17, 2003
Huntsville museum opens anime exhibit...
...Hell's temperature drops a few degrees:
Whether you've never heard of anime, as Japanese animation is called, or you're already among its millions of fans, "My Reality: Contemporary Art and the Culture of Japanese Animation" offers not only a series of films, but choice examples of work in a variety of media by Eastern and Western artists inspired by the film style."We're really excited about this show. Its a very different-looking and -feeling show and we haven't done anything like it in a long time," said Peter Baldaia, the museum's chief curator.
The anime exhibition will be on view through Jan. 4. General admission to the museum is $7 for non-members. Discounts are available to senior citizens over 60, military personnel, students with a valid ID and groups of 10 or more. Museum members and children under 6 are admitted free.
Highlight tours will be Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. ($3.50 for non-members), Dec. 6 at 11 a.m. (free to all) and Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. ($7 for non-members).
The museum is located at 300 Church St. in Big Spring International Park. Hours are 1-5 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with extended hours on Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, call 535-4350 or visit www.hsvmuseum.org.
via Matthew
Posted by Groonk at 07:21 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Art, Local News
October 13, 2003
Yet another blockade
Huntsville does it's best to stay a lame ass city.
A couple of weeks ago, the Alcohol Beverage Control Board notified bar owner Carole Record she was breaking the law by serving drinks in plastic cups to customers on the sidewalk. She says that was news to her.Record said when she approached the city seven years ago about putting tables on the sidewalk outside her Jefferson Street business, she was told there would be no problem with her serving drinks.
"I was told that if any problems came up, we'd address them then," Record said.
Posted by Groonk at 12:59 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
October 03, 2003
The Matrix' at sprocket
Dizziness.
Have you been on "Superman," "Batman" or any of those turn-you-upside-down roller coaster rides at Six Flags over Georgia?
No? Well, have you thrown down a margarita or two at a Mexican restaurant lately?
That's sort of what you'll feel like after leaving "The Matrix Reloaded," the second part of the sci-fi trilogy that, in the simplest terms - and this movie is complicated and deep - is man against machines.
If you go
What: "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions" IMAX films
When: "The Matrix Reloaded" starts Friday and runs through Nov. 4: Friday and Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, 4 p.m.; "The Matrix Revolutions" starts at midnight Nov. 4, times to be announced
Where: U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Governors Drive and Bob Wallace Avenue, I-565 Exit 15
How much? Adults $10, children $9, combo ticket for movie and museum, $20.95 for adults, $15.95 for children.
Posted by Groonk at 01:48 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
September 14, 2003
MAIZEd
All beware of 'He who walks behind the rows' or was it 'rose'? Eh it was a crappy franchise anyway.
But The MAIZE is fun, I hear. Maybe I'll get to give it a try this year.
Posted by Groonk at 02:04 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
September 03, 2003
Fuck his noise
(CNN) -- Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore plans to file an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court next month.Moore was suspended for refusing to obey a federal judge's order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building.
Despite protests from Moore's supporters, the 2.6-ton granite monument was later moved to a locked storeroom.
CNN anchor Paula Zahn discussed the case with Moore, whom supporters call the "Moses of Alabama."
The 'Moses of Alabama'?? Who the hell is he leading and from what tyranny? The law, backed by elected officials that he used to represent, was broken by him.
And exactly how does Pharaoh fit into all this? Who is playing that part?
Posted by Groonk at 05:47 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
August 29, 2003
'God Haters' haul 10 Commandments away
You don't have to read the story but watch the 'Put it back!' video. It is priceless.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A chorus of demonstrators joined an irate man in screaming, "Put it back!" Wednesday after a monument of the Ten Commandments was wheeled away from the rotunda of the Alabama Judicial Building. "Get your hands off our God, God haters!" yelled the wildly gesturing, red-faced man who initiated the chanting.Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore (search), who installed the engraved set of tablets two years ago and risked his career to keep it there after a federal judge ordered it removed, said he would take his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This is a tremendous victory for the rule of law and respect for religious diversity," said the Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Perhaps Roy Moore will soon leave the bench and move into the pulpit, which he seems better suited for."
via MedicMike
Posted by Groonk at 08:44 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Religion
August 28, 2003
MSFC takes responsibility for damage
Marshall Space Flight Center's director Wednesday said the center is responsible for the wing damage to the space shuttle Columbia from foam shed from the external tank. And he said the center is developing a fix to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"At Marshall, we manage the external tank. We bear the responsibility of the foam coming off the tank," Marshall Director Dave King said in a news conference. "We also bear the responsibility now of making this vehicle as safe as we possibly can."
Posted by Groonk at 08:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Technology, USA
August 27, 2003
No Moore
I have resisted posting anything on this person for long enough. Along with some recent links, 7d gathered some archived opinions and articles regarding this...person's previous escapdes and personal views.
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Moore, a Republican who contends American law is based on the Bible and that the Constitution was meant to promote Christianity
And here I thought the Constitution was around to protect everyone's pesky rights. Including those of other religions.
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Interesting company he keeps:
Both religion and race, therefore, emerged as relatively powerful predictors of selected voting patterns in last November’s election. And the interrelationship between the two is perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the high correlation (0.7 on a scale of 1.0) between voting for Judge Moore and voting to keep the interracial marriage prohibition. Thus, the counties that voted for Moore in higher numbers also tended to support continuation of the interracial marriage ban (and vice versa).
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The antireformers are using rising taxes as a scare tactic. God has become a useful tool for that camp, too. Roy Moore, chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, for example, has praised the 1901 Constitution for keeping taxes down. He's also personally interested in keeping God in the public arena. Late one night last summer, Justice Moore had a couple of workmen cart a 2 1/2-ton boulder inscribed with the Ten Commandments into the Supreme Court building in Montgomery. Meanwhile, his wife, Kayla Moore, an antireform activist, has said that "man is inherently evil" and that the Constitution restrains evil.
The only evil I see is intolerance.
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The good old days:
One delegate to the 1901 constitutional convention declared: “The disqualifying principle in the negro race is not color but character, and the qualifying principle in the white race is not color but mental superiority. I am willing to treat the negro fairly and honestly and give him his rights, but I believe he is incapable of governing himself.”
Isn't it nice to live in the 21st century where everybody, man and woman, is treated fairly and justly? Um...Waitaminute.
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The Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform has editorials from damn near every paper in the state. All involving reforming the antiquated Alabama constitution.
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Posted by Groonk at 02:04 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
August 21, 2003
On and on...
Welcome to the South.
GALLANT, Ala. — Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is in the fight of his life over a Ten Commandments monument, and his brother can't help but think how little has changed since they were kids growing up in this foothills town.Then-11-year-old Roy had just caught a nice string of fish and was heading home to cook them up when a group of men stopped their car and demanded he hand the catch over. Instead of giving in, he stood his ground, with his fists clenched tightly in front of him.
"I'll have to say, as little as we was, Roy stood up to them," brother Jerry Moore recalls with a chuckle. "And they didn't get our fish."
Now, at 56, Roy Moore's fists are still raised. His defiance of a federal court order to remove the 5,300-pound commandments monument from the judicial building rotunda has thrust Alabama into a thorny debate over the separation of church and state.
Those who have known Moore through childhood, West Point, Vietnam, and a sometimes stormy legal career say the standoff is hardly surprising from a man who has never compromised when it comes to his faith.
But critics say he is using his bench as a pulpit to impose his religious values on others.
Posted by Groonk at 06:39 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
August 18, 2003
Rabbi tells Moore Jews support display
There's a damn big disturbance in the force round here:
MONTGOMERY - Thousands of American Jews support Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's display of the Ten Commandments in the state judicial building rotunda, an Orthodox rabbi from New York told him Friday.Rabbi Yehuda Levin, saying he represents 1,000 rabbis and 750,000 Orthodox Jews in two national organizations, gave Moore an embroidered likeness of the Ten Commandments and blessed him in a special prayer.
"May the Author of the Decalogue give you the strength and the fortitude to be successful in your righteous struggle and be an effective leader in the public arena for years to come," Levin told Moore in a brief ceremony on the judicial building steps.
via LAWoman73
Posted by Groonk at 04:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
July 31, 2003
Upper ozone depletion declining
"It's the first stage in the recovery of the ozone layer," said Michael Newchurch, associate professor of atmospheric research at UAH.
Newchurch is lead author on a research paper with five other scientists from around the country. It details evidence they say shows the pace of destruction has slowed in the upper part of the ozone layer between about 22 miles and 28 miles high.
(7d found a similar article but I lost the link to that one.)
Posted by Groonk at 01:05 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Science, World
July 14, 2003
Bleak writing skills
WHEN IT comes to how well American children write, small signs of progress aren't enough.
Alabama, meanwhile, looks like it has made no progress at all.
Results released Thursday from the National Assessment of Educational Progress present a picture that still, by rational standards, is bleak. While the percentage of fourth- and eighth-graders nationwide who were graded "proficient" grew from a range of 22 to 25 percent in 1998 to 26 to 29 percent in 2002, high school seniors actually did worse last year than five years ago.
The most worrisome statistic about the seniors was the proportion of them who could write at even a "basic" level (a level substantially below "proficient"), meaning they could provide an organized answer showing they understand their task and their audience.
And it's not as if the seniors were being asked to write about highly complex topics. A sample essay question for them required no specialized knowledge or research. It merely asked them to define heroism and explain who they think today's heroes are, and why.
Marilyn Whirry, a member of the board that overseas the test and a former national teacher of the year, put it bluntly: "By the time students graduate high school, they should be able to produce more than disorganized self-expression or Internet chat."
(via LAWoman73)
Posted by Groonk at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, USA
Who's worried about 'P'?
When Greg Kelsoe visits pools with his family, he tests the water before he lets his children take a dip.
As a pool inspector for the Jefferson County Department of Health, he knows water that looks inviting could be home to germs that cause everything from gastrointestinal problems to respiratory infections.
Most swimming-related illnesses result in diarrhea, although bacteria and other pathogens in the water can cause skin rashes and infections of the ears, eyes or respiratory system. Fecal matter is the most common contaminant.
(LAWoman73 gets the ugh prize for today.)
Posted by Groonk at 04:08 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Science
July 03, 2003
Big Brother in Middle School locker rooms
This is so not right:
A Tennessee middle school allowed security cameras to film students undressing in locker rooms and then stored the images on a computer accessible through the Internet, according to a lawsuit filed by a group of angry parents. The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Nashville seeks $4.2 million in damages."We have not gotten a suitable response from the school board as to why there was a camera," said attorney Mark Chalos on CBS News' Early Show. "In our opinion, no one has the right to photograph elementary school children getting undressed in their locker rooms."
The cameras reportedly captured students, ages 10-14, in various stages of undress.
The parents contend the school system violated students' rights by putting hidden cameras in boys and girls locker rooms at Allons Middle School.
EduTech Inc., the company that installed the surveillance cameras in several Overton County schools also was named in the lawsuit on behalf of 16 girls and one boy. Officials with the company had no comment.
Parents learned of the cameras when a student reported a suspicious device in the school at Livingston, about 80 miles east of Nashville.
The lawsuit contends that images captured by the cameras were stored on a hard drive in the office of the assistant principal could be accessed from remote computers by the Internet. It claims the computer's password security had not been changed from the factory default setting.
The images were reportedly accessed 98 times between July 2002 and January 2003 — sometimes late at night and early in the morning — and through Internet providers in Tennessee and South Carolina.
Chalos said he doesn't know if the cameras are still operating.
via 7d
Posted by Groonk at 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
July 01, 2003
Von Braun made the list
The top 100 aviation pioneers list was collected and rated by the staff of Aviation Week and Space Technology, and announced last week during the Paris Air Show.
Von Braun's German rocket team, working at Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center, designed the Saturn V rockets that took NASA's Apollo astronauts to the moon.
The list is topped by Orville and Wilbur Wright, the inventors of the powered airplane. Von Braun is followed on the list by Robert Goddard, widely known as the father of American rocketry.
Posted by Groonk at 04:23 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
Army base to Wildlife refuge
ANNISTON - People cussed and cried when Fort McClellan closed in 1995.
Poof. Five thousand Army jobs vanished. Some thought Anniston - a city weaned on camouflage and crew cuts - would never recover.
But the Calhoun County seat could soon have a new passion: ecotourism.
The rolling property an hour east of Birmingham contains the state's third-highest peak and is crawling with deer, wild turkey and migratory songbirds.
The preserve isn't due to open until next May, giving workers time to round up hundreds of old artillery shells littering the property. Officials are still mulling what types of recreation to allow. Hiking and nature photography are good bets. Hunting is in the mix, too.
Posted by Groonk at 03:57 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
Go for the Urban Swim
More flooding. Though not as much as last time.
Posted by Groonk at 03:40 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
June 20, 2003
Space Center Troubles
June 19 - There are only three real Saturn V Rockets for public viewing and one of them is in Huntsville. But the Space and Rocket center lost out on money they say is needed to keep it here.
Officials from the Center expected the legislature to pass a 1% lodging tax for hotel rooms, but local lawmakers dropped the tax after the City of Huntsville passed its own tax.
The center had expected to receive $500,000 a year for five years. Some of that money to refurbish the Rocket owned by the Smithsonian. Without the money, they fear other museums may try to take it.
Posted by Groonk at 04:36 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
May 06, 2003
40 days and 40 nights...
...of rain hit my little town of Huntsville, AL in the span of 60 minutes this morning. On top of that several tornadoes were spotted touching down around Huntsville's perimeter.
See that pic above? That used to be a street.
God, I swear, I'll have the money I owe back in your hands by the end of the week. Just cool it with the waterworks for a spell.
Posted by Groonk at 04:54 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, Photos
May 03, 2003
Keeping track
Gwen is keeping up with the end of the world South quakes.
Posted by Groonk at 11:51 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, USA
May 02, 2003
South Quake Update
The most powerful recorded earthquake in Alabama was a 5.1 quake in 1916 centered in Jefferson County. The quake toppled chimneys, cracked foundations, disrupted water wells and broke windows. Irondale and Pell City were among the areas most affected.
Earthquakes of similar intensity in Alabama occurred in 1917 near Rosemary in west Alabama, in the Scottsboro area in June 1927, at Cullman in May 1931, and in the Anniston area in 1939, according to the National Earthquake Information Center.
Posted by Groonk at 01:36 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
April 30, 2003
More on the quake
I slept right through the bugger:
FORT PAYNE - A rare earthquake centered near Fort Payne shook much of North Alabama early today, rattling windows and awakening nervous residents but causing no reports of serious damage. The quake, which had a preliminary magnitude of 4.9, struck around 4 a.m. and was close to the Georgia line. The quake was felt in seven states, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Posted by Groonk at 01:41 AM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
April 29, 2003
South Quake
Woo Hoo! Fort Payne's on the map. Now the earth knows where the sock capital of the world is based.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A rare earthquake measuring magnitude 4.9 shook the South early Tuesday, waking up people from Mississippi to North Carolina, but the tremor failed to inflict significant damage, bleary-eyed residents and officials said.The epicenter of the tremor was about 37 miles southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee, along the border of Georgia and Alabama, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site. It struck just before 5 a.m. EDT.
Southeastern Kentucky, northeastern Mississippi and the western parts of North and South Carolina also felt the tremor, according to the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado. Six minor aftershocks also were reported in the 2.0 to 2.5 range, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Posted by Groonk at 12:00 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News
April 10, 2003
Another use for duct tape
More from LA Woman73:
Julia Tubb, president of Ella Grant Elementary School's PTA, said Wednesday she was "shocked" by the report of a substitute teacher using duct tape Monday to shut the mouths of three fifth-grade boys at the school.
Posted by Groonk at 02:16 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, USA
March 31, 2003
SE couple shares inside view of Iraq
GAUTIER -- British by birth but now carrying their American citizenship, Albert and Doris Mitchell of Gautier watch the live coverage of the war with Iraq and reminisce of the 10 years they spent in the Iraq.
"You've got to back them 100 percent," Bert said of the U.S. and British troops.
Even though an allied victory seems likely, democracy in Iraq is unlikely, he said.
If left in the hands of the Iraqis, the new government will not be one of democracy, Bert said.
"They are told who to vote for. This war won't change a thing unless someone else forms the government," he said. "When Saddam Hussein's picture comes down someone else's will go up."
The Muslim culture was foreign to the Mitchells when they moved to Iraq in 1953. Bert worked in construction through a contract with Iraq Petroleum, a multi national oil company. Bert said many of those who follow the Muslim faith are "good people." But, he added, there are others who have taken the faith that worships Allah and have turned it into something cruel that doesn't respect the lives of others.
The Mitchells rented a home from the Iraqi Minister of Oil while in Iraq. The home was about 30 miles from Baghdad. Because the family was not involved in government, most of their time in the country was pleasant. There were days of playing golf and nights of entertaining guests in their home. A walk to the market resulted in taking time to visit and share a cool drink.
Doris Mitchell, as hostess for the British Trade Fair, once made a cake for King Faisal II.
"We had a good time," she said.
But not long after the festive evening with Faisal, the 22-year-old Iraqi king was assassinated. His body was paraded through the streets as a sign of victory.
Another memory Doris shared was when she reported to police that inappropriate advances were made toward a maid by a cook who worked for them. When the police arrived they did not charge him with a crime but rather beat him in the front yard.
"They asked me if that was enough," she said. "They offered to kick him some more."
When the Mitchells' daughter, Bonnie, suffered from appendicitis at age 13, the couple saw first hand the fear that many Iraqis have endured.
While they were treated well at the hospital and their daughter received her medical care, an Iraqi official was brought in for emergency medical care for a stab wound.
With armed guards stationed outside the official's hospital room, medical personnel feared for their life.
"If he had died somebody would have been killed," Bert said.
"They are a cruel, cruel people," Doris said. "Coming from a civilized country you can't imagine what it's like."
Posted by Groonk at 03:42 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Local News, USA, War, World
March 26, 2003
Beware the Salamanders
HOMEWOOD, Ala. -- City leaders have granted a resident's request to install "salamander crossing" signs on each end of a road where the spotted salamander crosses on its annual migration to mate and lay its eggs.
Don Stewart asked the city to install the signs to make travelers on the road between the National Guard armory and Homewood High School more aware of their environment.
It's unusual that the spotted salamander has survived in an urban environment such as Homewood, a bedroom community of 25,000 adjoining Birmingham, Stewart said. The amphibians are common from Canada to Mississippi and are an inky black with orange or yellow spots and gray bellies. They eat worms and can grow to 8 or 9 inches long. In Homewood, they crawl down the north face of Shades Mountain toward wetlands next to Shades Creek during the first full moon after the first warm rain.
Found by sevendaggers.
This is not the sign, but visuals help with the funny.
Posted by Groonk at 05:18 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Local News, Photos, Science, USA
No sweet tea to be a crime in GA
ATLANTA (AP) -- For some Georgia lawmakers, a meal wouldn't be complete without sweet tea.
Noel acknowledged the bill was an attempt to bring a little humor to the Legislature. But he said he wouldn't mind if it became law.
Under the bill, restaurants could still serve unsweetened tea, but must serve sweet tea as well. Misdemeanors can carry a sentence of up to 12 months in jail.
Funny? Yes. But what if it goes through?
Found by sevendaggers
Posted by Groonk at 04:53 PM | Comments (0) | Ministry of Funny, Local News, USA
