Wednesday, April 23, 2008

The Election in Pennsylvania



Just when you thought it was over - it isn't ... at least not yet. From Iowa until now, what I've learned is that this election season is unpredictable. Both Hillary and Barack Obama are relentless in pursuit of the prize. Dirty tricks by both campaigns are amazing. "Swift boating" looks tame compared to Hillary's "Bosnia Flap" and Obama's "Reverend Jerimiah Wright Scandal." No matter how you look at either Hillary or Obama, neither one of these two are political virgins.

Truthfully, I don't like any of them. And just in case your wondering, I don't like McCain either. I have labels for each of them: Obama - slick; Hillary - the fibber; McCain - more of the same.

Has our political process devolved to this? Our country has real problems that require real world solutions and it seems to me that something is missing. Why does each of the candidates have to be millionaires?

Look around you - how many of your buddies are millionaires? What happened to politically "incorrect" presidential candidates? All of these guys are so tame in what they utter, I get bored.

It is scary that each of these candidates seem like they're "owned" by someone.

Here are my politically incorrect fears:

Hillary wants eight more years(counting her husband's time)of making as much money as she can from the office.

Obama is a wolf in sheep's clothing. I fear that he will go on a prosecutorial witch hunt against the Bush Administration. He is so revolutionary, I fear his campaign is a major exercise in deception. I don't think America is ready for blood in the streets.

McCain has that "far away" look that makes one scared that his thumb on the button with the chemistry of his temper makes for a bad mix.

Is there anybody else? Where's Guy Fawkes when you need him?

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Highway 73 Beer Joints


Living at Hubbard, it was impossible to go home without passing two drive-in restaurants, a major automobile junkyard, a drive-in movie theatre, and two beer joints.

These two beer joints could get you in trouble. First they were both right on the highway and it was impossible at certain times at night to pass by without risking a collision with some hapless drunk heading home. Second, if you were a tourist, and accidently wandered in by mistake, you might end up having a very exciting evening...

Beer joints down South are not the same as "bars" up north. Fights were almost always a guarantee. If you ever had any curiousity about the criminal element, a beer joint could bring you up close and personal. Scratch-off games, pinball machines that paid off in cash, and low-level prostitution were not uncommon. If you were willing to pay a premium price, a bottle of bootleg whiskey could be had - saving a trip to Knoxville.

Not very far from my home at Hubbard, there was a beer joint that literally "hung" off the side of the hill in the low part of a hollow. It had no parking area to speak of and the "empties" were piled up along the side of the building. These beer joints did not check ID's so it was wasn't unusual for an underage crowd to frequent these places. One story that is my favorite was of two boys - one rowdy and one a teetotaler. On this night the rowdy one went missing. There was a death in the family and everyone was looking for him. The "tame" brother who looked remarkably like the "rowdy" one, started searching the beer joints. Without cell phones searches like this were difficult. As the "tame" brother wandered in to the beer joint, he was knocked cold by a beer bottle across the head.

The dangers of mistaken identity...

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

The Family Genealogist

Have you ever been to a genealogy website? They're everywhere. Someone decides they are going to do the family a favor and chronicle it's history with no idea how much confusion they are going to cause by their efforts. Sometimes what results can be a disaster, particularly if the chronicler is basing his or her information on the partial memories of someone who has no memories left. I've seen some of those sites and I'm sure you have as well.

Then there is the "everybody arrived riding white horses" website... All the history is purged and purified. There were are no black sheep ... not even any gray ones.

In our family we have a great genealogical website. The person who runs it is top notch. Ironically, Claudia Carson, who compiles the Whitehead family history, is a "yankee" and runs the website from her home on Long Island in New York. She has many insights into Blount County just from the experience she has in compiling our family history.

Claudia's secret is that she is non-exclusionary. In other words she has made a decision to include everyone who goes by the family surname. Our family website is full of photographs, stories, and bits of information that relate to our family and other closely related surnames. Our chronicler's methods are scientific and to the best of my knowledge - accurate. Claudia would not claim to be a professional genealogist, but by her actions and discipline, you have no doubt that the history she is compiling is authentic.

There are photographs at our site that you won't find anywhere else. While I've been under the weather, I've explored some of many pages of family history that Claudia Carson has compiled on the Whitehead family. She has located Whiteheads from all over the United States and has made contacts with some in other countries... all from her little home in Long Island...

The website is protected and if you are interested in taking a peek, contact me at miket@thomsontalks.com.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Getting Back into the Swing of Things!

It's tough to be sick. That's where I've been for the past couple of months. It started out with chest pain. Chest pain that resulted in me seeing a cardiologist who schedules me for an angiogram which results in the implantation of two stents to deal with blockages in my heart.

Then...after a few days, I'm so happy I attempt to set a world speed record for testing out my new equipment. Boom! Not taking into account that muscles sprain very easy in cold weather, I disable myself and have for the past several weeks been hobbling painfully everywhere I go. THEN...

While all this is going on... My medications get screwed up and for about two weeks and I'm wandering around in some state of mental confusion. I felt like I've lost an interesting patch of my memory. Now, finally, just in time for Spring, I am finally starting the recover.

I've got 90 percent of the leg functioning again and 100 percent of my brain. I'm only telling people that 50% of my brain is okay. You would be surprised at the amount of crap you can get out of with that excuse. That's a joke...

I'm ready to write again. Send me something!