"This land is your land..." Tenn. county wants to charge homosexuals By Associated Press, Wednesday, March 17, 2004 DAYTON, Tenn. - The county that was the site of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" over the teaching of evolution is asking lawmakers to amend state law so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature. The Rhea County commissioners approved the request 8-0 Tuesday. Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the measure, also asked the county attorney to find a way to enact an ordinance banning homosexuals from living in the county. "We need to keep them out of here," Fugate said."This…
louder than words update: Got the go-ahead from Bob to proceed with Plan A. Also found out that I'll be on the cover of their next calendar! Decided to hit Urbana for the Billy Collins/Limerick Slam show on Thursday to do some promo, even though the $20 cover really stings! louder than words is a brand new show that's going to reject the status quo of poets spewing bullshit from the mic 'cause they think that's what the audience likes instead, demanding both growHave to make a new batch of flyers once everyone is officially confirmed and Eric and I…
No such thing as a just war
Another hopeful sign…
Soldier who refused to return to Iraq to surrender in North Miami
By Erik Schelzig, Associated Press
NORTH MIAMI, Fla. (AP) Shaken by a gunfight in Iraq that killed innocent civilians, a 28-year-old U.S. soldier declared the invasion ”an oil-driven war” and said he won’t return to the Middle East and fight.
Staff Sgt. Camilo Mejia, of Miami Beach, surrendered Monday at an air force base in Massachusetts, where he was ordered to report to his unit Tuesday at the North Miami Armory in suburban Miami.
His attorney, Louis Font, said he believes Mejia is the first soldier to turn himself in after refusing to return to Iraq. Mejia said he would seek conscientious objector status.
Mejia was in Iraq for about five months last year until October, when he returned home on leave. He did not return to duty.
”This is an oil-driven war, and I don’t think any soldier signs up to fight for oil,” Mejia said Monday after arriving at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
Mejia said he was particularly upset over an incident in which he and others were ambushed and innocent civilians were hit in the ensuing gunfire.
”That’s one of the things that tells me there’s no such thing as a fair war, no such thing as a just war,” he said.
A sense of naked helplessness
I rarely give a conscious thought to the possibility of being caught up in a terrorist attack, fully accepting the likelihood that NYC remains a target and at some point in the future, another attack will come. Other than crawling under a rock or moving to North Dakota, there's really no other option and, to be honest, I don't even see much difference between the two. Every now and then, though, something random happens that forces me to acknowledge that I live and work smack in the middle of one of the largest bullseyes around, and it can be a…
Spain Vows to Pull Soldiers Out of Iraq
Perhaps there is some reason for hope…
Spain Vows to Pull Soldiers Out of Iraq
By ED McCULLOUGH, Associated Press Writer
MADRID, Spain – The leader of Spain’s victorious Socialists said Monday he will withdraw his nation’s support for the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq, restating a campaign promise a day after his party won elections overshadowed by terrorist bombings.
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, calling the war that ousted Saddam Hussein an “error,” said he would recall Spanish troops from Iraq by June 30 unless the United Nations assumes control of multinational military operations there.
In a surprise defeat, Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar’s conservatives on Sunday became the first government that backed Washington in Iraq to be voted from office. The election came amid charges that Aznar made Spain a target for terrorists by supporting the war, and that his government concealed possible connections between the attack and Islamic terrorists for political gain.
Met with Bob (and Ed Greer) on Friday to nail down the details for louder than words. They love the concept and had some great input on the overall format, plus there's the possibility of Bob calling in some favors to book me some "big" names. Really, he's just hedging his bets there as they've been burned by lackluster shows in prime slots in the past and is concerned I'm targeting the usual audience which may garner a similar result. With less than a week to pull together the lineups in order to have enough time to do some promo…