Upcoming local events

For those listening to us on WOLI radio in Greenville, here is a listing of the events we have been announcing recently.


[] PUBLIC HEARING: Thursday, April 4, 2013 (Speak up for the Broad River!)

The proposed WS LEE Nuclear Power Plant in Gaffney, SC needs an NPDES wastewater discharge permit to dump chemicals and heated water into the Broad River at 99 Island Reservoir. Folks concerned about the health and social impacts of this plant will attend the hearing to make public comments and request denial of this permit to protect downstream communities. JOIN US!

Restoration Church
1905 N. Limestone Street
Gaffney, SC 29340

6pm: A presentation by Dept of Health & Environmental Control (DHEC) with questions & answers
7pm: public speaking begins
View the draft permit (PDF)
General information on Clean Water Act permits from the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League.

For ride-sharing and more information, check out Clean Water for North Carolina..


[] Greenville Tech Earth Day Event: Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 10am - 2pm

Greenville Technical College
Student Center Courtyard
506 S Pleasantburg Drive
Greenville, SC 29607

Free event designed for students, faculty, alumni, staff and community... learn to be environmentally responsible!

For more information 864-250-8767


[] SpringSkunk Music Festival: April 12 - 13, 2013 - all day long!

Bands featured: Col. Bruce Hampton, Brushfire Stankgrass, Locust Honey, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Nu-Blu Bluegrass, Sol Driven Train, River Whyless, and many more.

Albino Skunk Music Festival - The Skunk Farm
4063 Jordan Road
Greer, SC 29651

For more information - info@albinoskunk.com.

NOTE: I am hoping to make it there to read the Tarot, so be there or be square... look for our Occupy the Microphone radio booth! (And my previous account of Skunkin is HERE.)


[] Ninth Annual Greer Earth Day Run and Fitness Festival: Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 7:30am

Choose from three different events this year, Half Marathon, 5K and 10K, including a free Earth Kids Run at 9:30am. Advance registration necessary, brought to you by the Greenville Track Club. There will also be a variety of exhibitors at the Fitness Festival.

Greer City Hall/Park
301 E Poinsett Street
Greer, SC 29651

For more information, check out GreerEarthDayRun.com.


[] Furman Earth Day Festival: Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 1pm- 6pm

Furman University (Amphitheater)
3300 Poinsett Highway
Greenville, SC 29613

Earth Day celebration will include music, local food, cool people, sustainability-related student initiatives, community organizations and more.

For more information, contact the Shi Center at 864-294-3655


[] DIY show at the Garaj Mahal: Saturday, April 20, 2013 - 7:30 - until

Bands featured: They Eat Their Own God, Rubrics (includes members of Occupy Greenville!), Dables, M.E.H., Jake Xingu (greatest ever!), Satan in Bondage.

Garaj Mahal
22 Apopka Ave
Greenville, SC 29609

Bring cash for merchandise and to support the artists! Please friend Garaj Mahal on Facebook and check out the DIY Greenville website. (PS: Daisy's other excellent Garaj Mahal photos are HERE!)

Left: The Greenville County Recycling Center at Stone Avenue.


[] City of Greenville Earth Day: Monday, April 22, 2013 - 10am - 2pm

North Greenville Recycling and Education Center
514 Rutherford Road
Greenville, SC 29609

Phone Book Drive, bring those old phone books and other recyclable detritus in to the county's newest recycling center. This event will include refreshments, giveaways and information about other upcoming environmentally-friendly events.

For more information, call 864-467-8300.


[] Authors and Artisans Fair: Sunday, April 28, 2013 - 12:30 - 4pm

Local artists, authors, photographers, musicians and fans will be at this event, making connections. Free demonstrations, workshops, performances. A percentage of all sales (CDs, books, artwork, etc) will go to support the GUUF.

Greenville Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship
1135 State Park Road
Greenville, SC 29609

For more information, 864-271-4883.


[] Volunteer Fair: Sunday, May 5, 2013 - 12:30 - 1:30pm

If you are interested in volunteering in the Greenville community, stop by and meet the volunteer coordinators. Volunteer for the GUUF choir, for marriage equality or to help the homeless. Free lunch and great fellowship!

Greenville Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship
1135 State Park Road
Greenville, SC 29609

For more information, 864-271-4883 or contact volunteers@greenvilleuu.org.


[] Renaissance Faire: May 31 to June 1, 2013 - all day long!

Games, costumes, music, cool people, jousting, sword-fighting and fairies. Yall come!

Greenville Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship
1135 State Park Road
Greenville, SC 29609

For more information, 864-271-4883.


[] Medicines from the Earth: May 31st to June 3, 2013

Blue Ridge Assembly
84 Blue Ridge Assembly Road
Black Mountain, NC 28711

Medicines from the Earth (pdf) is the best herbal conference in the USA. (PS: Daisy's old post about her conference experience is HERE.) Symposiums, nature walks, workshops, demonstrations and panel discussions... accompanied by a tour of the Gaia Herb Farm.

For more information, 541-482-3016.

~*~

Our show yesterday was a lot of fun! Give us a listen, folks.

Young evangelicals politically depart from their elders

Saturday's Greenville News article on young evangelicals suggests they have different priorities than their elders. Fascinating! We can make some important political converts in this group, I think.

Some excerpts from Ben Szobody's in-depth piece titled, No presidential candidate has excited young evangelicals:

It’s not the loudest group of voters, but the fate of the 2012 presidential race and even the future fortunes of the Republican Party may partly hinge on a swelling group of independents loosely defined as young evangelical Christians.

Polls and people in tune with the generation say many in the group find themselves politically adrift, amid a bitter campaign that so far features very few of their concerns.

In a shift that may seem radical in the framework of left-right politics, some voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and now support Ron Paul. They may have wanted to transcend partisan politics four years ago and now feel that pulling back on government is the best option left, say a sampling of voters and those who work with them.

The group doesn’t tend to vote in primaries, and the current field of Republicans is seldom touching on their vital subjects. But to lose their vote may mean to lose a generation for good, Christian and political figures say.

“I think a lot of young evangelicals are going to feel politically homeless,” said Tim King, communications director for the social justice group Sojourners who himself fits the demographic.

For his generation, King said abortion matters but the concern for children now includes issues such as child trafficking, mercury levels that affect fetuses, the spread of AIDS and clean water access.

These problems may rope in some big political solutions: social safety nets, churches doing more and a focus on a person’s individual behavior.

This is fabulous news!

One of the problems with young evangelicals that I have noticed, is an easily-offended sensibility. Kids from evangelical and/or home-schooled backgrounds (and due to Bob Jones University, a home-schooler hub, we have a PARCEL of them represented locally, so I know whereof I speak) have been raised in a sequestered environment. They are not allowed to watch TV at BJU, for example; similarly, lots of the home-schooled kids have been extremely overprotected. When they get out into the real world, it can be overwhelming and confusing.

I see this disparity between the young and old evangelicals, as resulting from their experiences in being in sudden contact with liberal Christians, non-Christians and mass-culture in general. The realizations come fast and furious: Wait, how can we be anti-abortion without caring about what actually happens to children after they are born? This starts them thinking in all kinds of new political ways, as they see what Cardinal Bernardin called "the seamless garment"--the concept that "life issues" include war, poverty, the environment, immigration and other global concerns.

Across the nation this week, 53 percent of Republicans were more enthusiastic about voting than usual, compared to 45 percent of Democrats, Gallup reported. But among voters ages 18 to 29, enthusiasm fell by 28 percent since 2008, and by 21 percent among 30- to 49-year-olds.

There’s been little political polling since 2008 focused on young Christians in particular, though a new book by Barna Group President David Kinnaman describes the top reasons many are veering from traditional churches and their positions.

Nearly a quarter of 18- to 29-year olds said Christians “demonize everything outside the church,” while 22 percent said the church is “ignoring the problems of the real world.”

It’s not necessarily that young Christians are apathetic, or less concerned about moral causes than their parents, or disillusioned after voting for Obama, say voters themselves and those attentive to their concerns.

Instead, they say many have a much broader view of how to change society after the Religious Right generation that preceded them. Politics is just a piece, and abortion is just one of the important social issues in play.

“The reality is, there are a lot of people who are actually thinking more broadly about these concerns,” said Paul Blumer, an active churchgoer, owner of Streetside Catering and president of Food for Life, a ministry that feeds the homeless at Triune Mercy Center near downtown Greenville.

He’s frustrated with his voting options but is part of a segment of young Christians who see the poor as their urgent, long-ignored cause. He’s currently trying to get a homeless man and his three children out of a hotel and into a home with another family.

“Here’s what people said to me when I took this on,” Blumer said. “‘You better call DSS.’ And I thought, what is going on with us? Why is it that we continue this constant shrugging of our responsibility as Christians off to government agencies, putting our trust in them as if they will perform the duties that will save these children’s lives?”

Among the current GOP candidates, Blumer likes Ron Paul’s libertarianism but knows he’s unlikely to win and dislikes the way Paul himself is treated as a savior.

“The Republican Party has terrible problems in this area,” said Brent Nelsen, a political science professor at Furman University, a former statewide Republican candidate for office and a founding member of Redeemer Presbyterian Church. “They’re not appealing to the demographics that are growing.”

This includes both young and Hispanic voters, Nelsen said, noting that Obama retains a big advantage among youths, though the Republican Party has recovered some of them since 2008.

The Republican candidates for president, by questioning Obama’s theology or making clear appeals on traditional moral grounds, are talking to “old-school” conservatives who vote in primary elections, he said.

Meanwhile, the “peace-and-justice” movement in evangelical churches is growing, and voting habits tend to lock in during a person’s younger years, Nelsen and King said.

“We’re not talking about the end of the Republican Party as we know it,” he said, adding that the demographic is still relatively small.

Still, if Republicans don’t address what young Christians care about — such as human trafficking or AIDS in Africa — both Nelsen and King say the party risks losing them for good.

Daisy winks, that might not be such a bad thing. Some of us think their dogmatic conservativism may have an unintended positive benefit: they will drive the kids away and ultimately self-destruct. (Some already can't get away fast enough.)

Szobody claims these young people have "a different view of how Christians interact with culture.":

King lays out the timeline this way: The social gospel movement of the 1920s and 1930s aimed at transforming institutions, which was followed by an emphasis on saving individual souls, and then the Religious Right generation sought to use politics as a tool. Preserving prayer in schools, the Ten Commandments in courthouses and “under God” in the pledge while fighting abortion and gay marriage were their causes.

Now, King describes a Christian generation that sees everything from art to writing to building stronger neighborhoods as ways to change others’ view of the world and be a witness for Christ. This effort encompasses environmental concerns, a compassionate approach to immigration and a focus on poverty.

This broader set of interests means that young Christians are often very conservative on the matter of abortion, for instance, but don’t vote on that single issue, King said. They might urge a young woman not to have an abortion, but then question whether the church is prepared to support her and her child.

It’s not a generation exposed to major social movements like the civil rights effort, but he said Occupy Wall Street seems to have hit this nerve: For the first time, they were pushing a cause, their friends were on the news and the world was paying attention.

For the Christians in the crowd, King said a shift from Obama in 2008 to Paul this year isn’t as large as it may seem. They believe Paul is the guy who would end the wars, and is serious about ending the collusion between big business and government — issues Obama underscored in the last election.

Nelsen knows friends who have gone from Obama to Paul, and he said they thought Obama favored personal freedoms but see his actions in office as reliant on the state. That makes Paul the new choice.

Blumer’s view is decidedly libertarian, and he blames “RINOs”* for failing to take up important social causes. In the general election, he said he may write in Paul’s name, or “Jesus Christ.”

Given the options, it’s always a risk that young Christians may not vote, King said.

Still, he said it’s no accident that after 40,000 college students raised $3.3 million to fight modern-day slavery at a January conference in Atlanta, Obama mentioned the effort in his remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast.

“President Obama has an opportunity to make the case, but it’s not a done deal,” he said.

Among the youth overall, Obama currently polls well ahead of both Santorum and Mitt Romney.

Meanwhile, Republicans have to think to the future, Nelsen said, noting the conservative student groups on Furman’s campus have split into Republican and libertarian camps.

“The young people are up for grabs, ideologically, and I don’t think either party has figured out how they’re going to handle this libertarian wave,” he said.

As I said, fascinating. Hoping some of the disaffected will show up at our Occupy events... hey, we got MOVIES, yall!
We hope to see some of you politically-aware young evangelicals. Your input and participation is welcome!

Stay tuned, sports fans.

*RINO= Republican In Name Only. (They refer to libertarians and liberals.)

Lindsey Graham (almost) gets his ass handed to him

Senator Lindsey Graham during a town hall meeting at Furman University in Greenville, October 12, 2009.
Photo by Patrick Collard of the Greenville News.






I didn't get the chance to attend Lindsey Graham's raucous town hall meeting, since I was working late Monday night. But the right wing of his party showed up, solidifying those reasons why South Carolina Democrats rarely challenge him.

The upstate Bob-Jones-faction of the South Carolina GOP elected both of our Senators (who come from the upstate): Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham. Despite all the juicy rumors that have consistently flown around the still-unmarried Graham, he seems virtually untouchable as far as the vote goes.

And there is no question, Graham is not as far-right as DeMint, who makes him look like a bastion of centrism.

Just like the town hall meeting I attended in Travelers Rest (which is, incidentally, right down the road from Furman University), the local right wing came out in droves. I would not have enjoyed the spectacle. If Graham had shown up at the one I went to, I am sure they would have eaten him for dinner similarly.

But he didn't get to be Lindsey Graham for nothing. (I have written here before about how well he can work a crowd). He stood there, all 63 inches of himself, and staunchly defended his record as "conservative" (even when it isn't) and didn't back down:

Senator tells some to 'chill out' during town hall meeting at Furman
By Ben Szobody • Staff writer • October 13, 2009

An often clamorous crowd blasted, grilled and occasionally cheered Republican U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in a town hall meeting Monday that centered on health care reform but returned repeatedly to his controversial positions on climate change, judicial appointees and immigration.

Graham returned the fire with a grin, at times shouting over his most boisterous critics and telling some who questioned his Christianity and party loyalty that their minority conservative views wouldn’t succeed without the political coalitions he said are necessary to serve the majority of Americans and attract enough votes in Congress.

“If you don’t like it, you can leave,” he said.

Some did.

The 75-minute forum filled several sections of Furman University’s Timmons Arena and attracted demonstrators, critics with handheld cameras, shouts of “traitor” and “Sotomayor” — and a smattering of supporters.

Graham repeatedly told those who shouted to “chill out” and addressed most of the hot-button issues that have rankled some in the state’s conservative epicenter, including a newspaper column he co-authored this week with Democratic Sen. John Kerry that called for climate change legislation.

One man told Graham he had “betrayed” conservatism and made a “pact with the devil” by working with Democrats and asked when Graham would switch parties. Pockets of the audience whooped, stood and stomped on the risers.

Graham said he’s not going anywhere and would grow the party instead, defending his conservative credentials on issues such as abortion and guns and calling the view of Libertarians who believe President Bush was a war criminal “nuts.”

Graham said, “We’re not going to be the party of angry white guys,” to more shouts and a sudden rush of personal cameras.

A woman who had been carrying a sign that condemned “unconstitutional, anti-Christ, socialist, federal, deficit-spending programs” told Graham that “God does not compromise” and that he had violated his oath of office by supporting federal ideas including health care reform that overstep states’ rights.

he was supported by more stomping, clapping and cheering. Graham asked her how she’d voted for president, and she identified Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party as her choice.

Graham then said he wasn’t there to please her, and that her party had lost the election “marketplace” of ideas.

He rejected the idea that the federal government should stay out of health care, saying few people want to get rid of Social Security and Medicare, and he defended his Christianity.

He drew some applause by saying he opposes Obama’s government option for health care because he said it would drive private enterprise out of business and add hundreds of billions of dollars in debt. However, he said he’s not afraid to ask people who can afford care, like himself, to pay more, and that more competition, deregulation and tort reform are all ways to lower costs.

“If we do nothing, we all lose,” he said.

On climate change, Graham said he’s working with Kerry because he wants to expand off-shore drilling and increase nuclear power as a way to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil, and that some caps on greenhouse gases are a reasonable trade-off to get a bill through Congress.

On Afghanistan, he said it’s crucial to increase American forces to allow the safe training of Afghan police and soldiers. To make progress through congressional action, he said to some boos, it will take working with Democrats to form Afghanistan benchmarks.

On his vote to confirm Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Graham said he’s trying to return to the old way of confirming judges based on their legal qualifications to avoid the “never-ending assault” faced by nominees. He said Sotomayor is no worse than Justice David Souter, who she’s replacing, and noted that longtime Sen. Strom Thurmond voted for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is widely viewed as a liberal judge.

Graham told a friendly questioner that he is “dead-set” against hate crimes legislation that he said would elevate crimes based on sexual orientation to special federal prosecution, which he said is a precursor to recognizing same-sex marriage. Without a coalition, however, he said the measure will pass because there aren’t enough Republicans to stop it.

On illegal immigration — the root of many Greenville conservatives’ mistrust — Graham said he’s all for a border wall, as well as tamper-proof Social Security cards that will help the government crack down on employers who hire the immigrants.

He said he also wants to identify the 12 million illegal immigrants here now, make them pay taxes, learn English and hold a job, then send them home to the immigration line if they want to become citizens.

In the end, Graham told a decidedly right-leaning crowd that he wants to build coalitions that will keep the country’s politics “center-right.”

“America is not only worth fighting for, it’s worth getting criticized for,” he said.

(((sigh)))

And so, I stand between the proverbial rock and the hard place.

The lefty-politico in me despises how hypocritical I feel Graham is on most issues; I particularly despise his anti-woman and anti-gay politics. However, the human part of me smiles at Graham's scrappy-hound ways; one envisions the big dogs surrounding the little dachshund or chihuahua, who comes out unexpectedly snarling and snapping and scaring away the big bully-dogs. Tee hee!

But this is also, I realize, exactly how he keeps his job. He used this whole thing as one long campaign commercial: Damn, it's tough being moderate in a state with all these wingnuts, he winks at the audience.

He's probably right, too.

I still pine away for someone to take the place of Fritz Hollings. But as long as the upstate-economic engine keeps chugging along (page down here for my explanation of that phenomenon) and people keep moving here, upstate conservatives will still be calling the shots for the state. The right wing has successfully cut off all media access from liberals, as I have written before, and upstate lefties are without even an Air America radio station for ideological aid and comfort.

Aside: Do you see how white that audience is? This is South Carolina!

Radio is a sound salvation

WPCI logo from Greenville South.


One of the great treasures of upstate South Carolina is WPCI-AM, 1490 on your radio dial. I used to jokingly call it Audiodrome (after Cronenberg's Videodrome), since I had no idea where it came from. One day, I was fiddling with the AM radio dial and heard "China Cat Sunflower" clear as anything. What? Huh? I left it there, and it was followed by Jimmy Buffett, assorted reggae, oldies, jazz and classic country. Nobody said anything. No commercials. What the devil---?

Every now and then (as mandated by law), someone authoritatively announced "WPCI, the quality alternative"...and so I looked it up. Of course, it had no website either, no playlist (which I still wish was available!)... and at that time, there was no Wikipedia entry, no local media sources available to tell me where this magical WPCI came from. So, I just kept calling it Audiodrome.

Eventually, I learned that one Mr Randy Mathena owned WPCI, and just played his own records. Is that cool or what? (And how many of us diehard music fans have had that fantasy?):

Five and a half years ago, a dream came true for the Mathena family. Paper Cutters Inc. proprietor, and Furman University Grad, Randy Mathena, owner and operator of WPCI 1490 AM, left the business news broadcasting world behind, and switched to a non-commercial format, with a non-stop play list of over 10,000 songs. The only voices heard are FCC mandated interruptions every thirty minutes supplying call letter identifications. This all music format has put WPCI on the Greenville map, with a rapidly rising fan base. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week you can hear everything from reggae, jazz, soft-rock, and even classic rock. It is the first of its kind, a commercially licensed station that plays no commercials and whose mission is just that; to play nothing but music.

[...]

It was during college at Furman University where Randy Mathena first learned of his love for radio. Working at the university’s station Randy learned all he could about radio and had always sought after buying a station for himself. Randy set out looking for a station to prove to himself it wasn’t possible. That’s when he found WMRC, a station that was black and waiting for someone to come along and save it. In buying WMRC it was up to Randy to rename the station and claim the four acre plot of land that housed the station. His first two choices, WRMB for rhythm and blues, and WBCH for beach, were taken, so the station was named WPCI for Paper Cutters Inc. WPCI began with business radio until 5 ½ years ago when it’s all music format was ready to begin. With 10,000 songs non-stop, Randy has created a station unlike any other.

Nestled on four acres in Greenville, South Carolina’s West End district, WPCI 1490 AM currently operates at 1 Kilowatt. The newly renovated cherry wood building lies adjacent to the Reedy River downtown. The completed renovations coincide with the rebuilding of downtown Greenville and the historic West End, which is generating even more conversation about WPCI in the community.

Playing an eclectic variety of music, ranging from bluegrass to reggae and rock to R&B;, this format has won high marks from Jimmy Cornelison, a journalist at Greenville News. A simple, yet extremely meaningful, “thank you”, Cornelison wishes to extend to Mathena for providing an alternative outlet for music fans with no commercials. WPCI was recently ranked 16 th out of the 36 South Carolina’s upstate stations. For no commercials, no profit, relying solely upon word of mouth, this is one of the greatest achievements WPCI has accomplished. Before any awards or recognitions, Mathena explains that he has fulfilled his dream and mission, “I bought the station for exactly what it’s doing today. That was the goal from day one; to play music. It is a dream come true. The dream of continuous music was not just Mathena’s, but rather the listeners’ dream as well 4. The unique format and Mathena’s passion for music made the choice clear for the [now-defunct, weekly newspaper] Greenville Beat to name WPCI 1490 as the best AM station in the upstate.

WE LOVE YOU, RANDY! You've done good. WPCI, with its trademark mix of connoisseur-level reggae, fabulous blues standards and wonderful beach classics, is a definite highlight of my day. Songs from WPCI have ended up on this blog more than a few times!

I hope that someday, a brave little website containing the elusive and ever-sought title/artist play-list will be available, because I do love WPCI and I feel the lack. Until this happens, I'll continue to scratch random lyrics on a pad of paper and look up the songs up later.

A small price to pay for continuous music, some of it almost forgotten, but timelessly marvelous.

Dead Air Church: Bring them home now

EDIT = June 4, 2008, in bold.

Left: Furman University professors silently protest during President George W. Bush's commencement speech at Furman University yesterday.

The Greenville News has removed all photos of any protests at Furman, with three very polite, somewhat tepid exceptions. The rest of the photo galleries are all positive, and you would not realize there was an extensive, all-day demonstration from looking through the existing posted photo galleries. The original photo I used is no longer available. (I wonder why?) Professors obviously rate inclusion, but Code Pink doesn't.

My original photo description: Code Pink member protesting President George W. Bush's commencement speech at Furman University yesterday. Greenville News photo by Gwinn Davis.

~*~

As I said yesterday, I missed the anti-Bush demonstration at Furman. Some excerpts from the commencement speech, in which Bush cutsified it up:

I am proud to be joined by my friend and an outstanding leader of South Carolina: Governor Mark Sanford, Class of 1983. Governor, I’m not going to ask if you ever got caught “swimming in the fountains.” Twenty-five years ago, the governor sat where you now sit – as a member of his graduating class. As it happens, the commencement speaker that year was my Dad. This means that some at Furman will have heard graduation speeches from two generations of Bushes. This is a great step forward for the Bush family, and a great step backward for your English Department.

My family has other ties with Furman. In the early 1930’s, a student named Willa Martin graduated from the women’s college that soon became part of Furman. Willa went on to marry my mother’s father. She also spent time as a columnist for the Associated Press, thus beginning the long history of warm relations between the Bush family and the media.

Ohhhh, she chortled, how cute is that? Meanwhile, as GWB jokes about bank accounts, some people won't be going to college, ever. That has never concerned him.

And some people, soldiers in particular, won't even be coming back home. Sparse mention of that in the text.

It's probably best that Blueblood Bush stays behind the gates of the expensive, private schools; a public school commencement audience might try to roast his sorry ass on a BBQ-spit.

Apologies for my lack of churchly sentiments this sabbath. Even Jesus got mad when the situation called for it.

If you pray, pray for our troops.

~*~

Bob Dylan - Masters of War

[via FoxyTunes / Bob Dylan]

I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician

EDIT = June 4, 2008, in bold.

Left: President George W. Bush with Furman President David Shi, preparing to deliver the commencement address. Obviously, he is earnestly praying that he will not be condemned to everlasting hellfire for crimes against humanity.

The Greenville News has removed all photos of any protests at Furman, with three very polite, somewhat tepid exceptions. The rest of the photo galleries are all positive, and you would not realize there was an extensive, all-day demonstration from looking through the existing posted photo galleries. The original photo I used is no longer available. (I wonder why?)

My original photo description: Greenville News photo of a local unidentified member of Military Families Speak Out, demonstrating against President George W. Bush's commencement speech at Furman University this evening. (Photo by Gwinn Davis)

~*~

Duty calls, and today my attendance was required at the annual Medicines from the Earth symposium in Black Mountain, North Carolina. On the way back, we passed the main Furman University entrance (via Highway 25/Asheville Highway), which appears to be under siege. Crestfallen, I realized the traffic would be too dense and difficult to make the commencement demonstration in time, so I went to Saturday Mass instead. I prayed for the anti-war demonstrators at Furman, that they may successfully change hearts and minds.

The news has just announced that George W. Bush has arrived at Greenville-Spartanburg airport; it won't be long now.

More about the demo and the symposium to come!

~*~

I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician ~ The Byrds

[via FoxyTunes / The Byrds]

Guess who's coming to Furman?

Left: Shamelessly stolen from comicvine.com.

~*~

I protested a certain Vice President back in the 80s, when he gave a commencement speech at Ohio State in 1985. Will I get a chance to protest his son at a commencement speech, also? How often in a lifetime does one have the opportunity to protest matching father AND son presidents? This one would definitely go on the resume!

Local peaceniks haven't yet decided if there actually will be a protest. If you know the layout of Furman University, there wouldn't be much public space in which to do so without being run over, and don't think it couldn't happen!

Furman student group slams foes of Bush speech

Letters support, oppose May visit by president

By Dan Hoover • STAFF WRITER • May 20, 2008 • GREENVILLE NEWS

President Bush's planned May 31 commencement address continued to roil the Furman University campus Monday as a conservative group released what it said was a letter signed by 502 students and "Furman community" members critical of faculty objections to the visit.

The "Support Our Seniors" letter by Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow said, "Unfortunately, some professors seem intent on turning what should be a celebration of their students' accomplishments into a forum to air their political differences with President Bush."

It asked Furman to:

• Require faculty members to heed their contractual agreement to attend commencement and not opt out as "conscientious objectors."

• Refuse to post the political views of a "fraction of the faculty and student body on our Web site."

• Pair the CSBT letter with the anti-Bush letter on the Web.

Furman spokesman Vince Moore said the letter was being reviewed Monday night, and he said, "We're going to work with that group to see about posting it on the Web site."

Whether there will be a protest May 31 isn't clear.

Bush was invited after Furman administrators received unanimous approval from the senior class leadership.

But it was the April 10 announcement of the appearance that riled some faculty members, employees and students.

Two weeks ago a "We Object" letter signed by 221 active and retired professors, staff and students, expressed shame over the Bush visit.

"Under ordinary circumstances it would be an honor for Furman University to be visited by the president of the United States. However, these are not ordinary circumstances," they wrote. "We are ashamed of these actions of this administration."

The letter, posted on the Furman Web site, criticized the Bush administration over the Iraq war, classifying prisoners of war as nonmilitary combatants to detain them indefinitely, eroding constitutional guarantees, ignoring evidence of global warming and encouraging reckless spending.

Furman President David Shi said such "dissent is a revered American tradition," reflective of a university's "health and maturity."

Some students reacted sharply, creating what English professor Robin Visel called unexpected "push-back."

Some seniors were chagrined at what they said was the faculty's effort to detract from their accomplishments.

Christina Henderson, a senior, student body president and self-described "big Democrat," said she disagrees with Bush's policies but respects the office. "It is the faculty response that we feel has taken away from" the seniors' milestone.

In a press release accompanying Monday's letter, Nathan Guinn, a CSBT board member and Furman junior, expressed disappointment "that some faculty members continue to put publicity ahead of professionalism. We wish to send an alternative message: It is an honor for the president of the United States to celebrate with Furman the many accomplishments of our seniors."

Guinn said the fact that "nearly five times as many students signed 'Support our Seniors' as signed the faculty-led petition demonstrates the student body's desire to return the focus to the graduating seniors instead of professors' political differences with the president. Clearly, the faculty-led petitioners do not speak for all or even most of the members of the Furman community."

Professors should meet their obligation to attend commencement, he said.

"For people who supposedly revere tolerance and open-mindedness, such an arrogant refusal to even listen to a short congratulatory speech from the president during a day of celebration is an embarrassment to our university," Guinn said.

Any comments from you folks on the position of the faculty? I know I have at least three professors and countless quasi-professors regularly reading my blog. Anybody out there been caught between a similar rock and a hard place?

And check out my congressional candidate Ted Christian's comments at the Greenville News site:

Bush is an incompetent, unapologetic, bloodsoaked warmonger. We should be ashamed we reelected him. He is an embarrassment to this country, and his presence at Furman will be an embarrassment to this community.

You see why I have to elect him?

Huckabee was here

Left: Greenville News photos of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee at Furman University.

Huckabee was here. He went to Spartanburg first, and then on to local upscale Baptist college, Furman University. But first a tour of the Carolina Pregnancy Center, which defines itself as "a small, nonprofit Christian-based facility in Spartanburg that offers programs for women with crisis pregnancies"--which translates as those infamous "sidewalk counselors" who attempt to talk women out of abortion at the last minute.

The fact that he made a point of touring this facility, speaks volumes. He used this backdrop to talk about his pro-life record, which includes passage of an amendment to the Arkansas state constitution officially recognizing that "life begins at conception."

Another message was sent by his choice of Furman University, which is a Baptist college, but not a cultish, backward school like Bob Jones University. (Bob Jones III already endorsed Mitt Romney, which most locals are making fun of, right about now.)

Huckabee's Furman rally was billed as "a rally and jam session"--wherein Huckabee picked up his trademark bass. Reaching out to the kids, and all that.

Huckabee sees state as 'turning point'

Thursday, January 10, 2008 - Greenville News

By Ron Barnett
STAFF WRITER

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee told voters in Spartanburg and Greenville on Wednesday that South Carolina, a state with plenty of evangelical Christian voters such as those who propelled him to victory in Iowa, will be the springboard that launches him to the GOP presidential nomination.

"South Carolina is going to be a turning point in this process, and you're going to be part of a great piece of history," the former Baptist preacher told about 300 people at the Marriott hotel in Spartanburg.

Huckabee's biggest crowd of the day was at Furman University, where 1,500 people crammed into the Younts Conference Center to hear him lay down a booming bass line with a local band on the rock standard "Taking Care of Business" and to hear his vision for the country.

"Over the past few weeks, something truly amazing has happened," he said, referring to his rise in the national polls. "It's not about a campaign. It's about a cause."

Huckabee spoke about the need for ending America’s dependence on foreign oil, which he said is financing both sides in the war on terrorism, and in both events, he drew loud applause with his plan for tax reform and his view on the sanctity of life.

“It is the view I held before I got into politics, not in order to get into politics,” he said, in an apparent jab at Mitt Romney, who supported abortion rights in the past.

Huckabee struck a chord with his Fair Tax proposal, particularly the part that calls for abolishing the IRS. He said the federal tax code is beyond repair.

“We know in the South that if you can’t fix something with WD-40 and duct tape, it can’t be fixed,” he quipped.

Flanked by Mike Campbell, son of former Gov. Carroll Campbell, and former Gov. David Beasley, he downplayed his third-place finish in New Hampshire.

“We haven’t seen anything but snow and ice for the last three weeks,” he said moments after landing at Greenville-Spartanburg Airport. “It sure is good to get down in the South.”

Some people were still trying to make up their minds about him.

Traci Wallace, a physical therapy student at Greenville Technical College, sat in the second row with a spiral-bound notebook in her lap, ready to take notes. “I like him so far,” she said. “I’m really here to see what he has to say about the war and the economy.”

Most of the crowd was already in the Huckabee camp.

Asked what she likes about the candidate, Cindy Jackson said: “Everything.” His faith topped her list.

“He’s a Christian. I know that for sure,” she said, identifying herself as a member of Echo Hills Baptist Church in Greer.

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Listening to: Minor Threat - Straight Edge
via FoxyTunes