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News and Issues from Bristol Virginia and Bristol Tennessee

By Lewis Loflin

Welcome to Tri-Cities and Bristol VA/TN. We are part of Southern Appalachia, a very diverse region with unique problems and many positives. Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee is a divided city (by the VA/TN state line) symbolic of the division in our region as our many bickering local governments waste more tax dollars with the least results of anywhere in America. They maintain a system I describe as social apartheid, while University of New Hampshire's Cynthia M. Duncan calls it Worlds Apart in her book on "Why Poverty Persists in Rural America."

To quote Bill Deel, a retired English teacher in Clintwood, Virginia, "We're becoming more and more Third World here...The best and the brightest leave." We will explore the real side of poverty and how government programs have mostly failed and benefited the rich and connected. They failed because local government was given the money under the guise of "local control" and "community block grants" which ended up as golf courses, the arts, recreation, and public funding for shopping malls, corporate welfare for local business, and pork-barrel roads leading to nowhere. They want to promote their values others can't afford. There's simply no money in rural America, which is why so many leave it. Bristol and Tri-Cities are good for retirement, bad for earning a living even for most college graduates.

But are the terms "social apartheid" or Duncan's Worlds Apart really accurate? In 1999 my wife and I (she has a social work degree before becoming disabled) saw Duncan and her book featured on PBS. To us here was the answer why many of our friends that graduated college were unemployable, why the good jobs got passed from one family member to the next, etc. I went to the library and ordered the book. It became the basis of this website, but I found my religious writings were the main interest of most visitors.

"It's a little-known fact that roughly 20 percent of the children in Southwest Virginia live below the poverty line and go hungry every night."

Kevin Crutchfield, President Alpha Natural Resources, January 15, 2009 in Abingdon, VA

Quoting the Associated Press August 27, 2008 regarding the Appalachian (Southwest Virginia) region even before the economic downturn starting in late 2007:

Virginia had the biggest increase in the number of people living in poverty, from 709,000 in 2006 to 743,000 a year later. Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland and Tennessee also had slight increases in the number of people living in poverty.

SATURDAY, JULY 4TH TEA PARTY MARCH & RALLY BRISTOL, VA

Celebrating our nation's independence and freedom-loving spirit, Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee patriots will unite on Saturday, July 4th at the Food City parking lot by the Gas N Go on Euclid Avenue in Bristol, VA between 8:00 and 9:00 AM for the Parade. Carrying forward the Tea Party movement that continues to rock the nation, a spirited, sign-waving parade will salute our Taxed Enough Already sentiments, with a non-partisan showing of citizens marching for the cause of freedom from the bane of over-arching government that threatens the American way of life and liberty!

A rally will follow at 12:00 Noon in front of the Bristol VA Courthouse, on Cumberland Ave. where information will be shared on imminent issues like Government Spending, Healthcare, Cap & Trade and State Sovereignty that now confront voters. The public is invited and encouraged to participate in this moment in history where we gather to both celebrate the best things about our nation's iconic freedoms and engage one another in protecting them. Bring your signs and join us between 8-9AM to march in the parade or ride on the Freedom Floats!

Contact Organizer Brian Rieck at saxmusicgospel@yahoo.com or 1-423-384-4464 for more information. I will be report live from this event.

Economic Meltdown is just "Right-Sizing"

May 14, 2009:

The Tri-Cities' job market lost a "staggering" 8,303 jobs during the first quarter, when compared to the first three months of 2008, states a report released today by East Tennessee State University. Just 407 jobs were lost in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the report from ETSU's Bureau of Business and Economic Research. After a weak fourth quarter, the market "imploded" in January, February and March, driven by large losses in manufacturing and construction jobs, the report states. The jobless rate rose to 8.6%. Job growth occurred in education & health, professional & business services, government, and retail trade. Large employment declines were reported by durable manufacturing, construction, and nondurable manufacturing. Smaller job losses occurred in wholesale trade, other services, information, finance, leisure & hospitality, and transport & utilities. Employment in the small mining sector was unchanged. In other words government grows and vulnerable manufacturing jobs continue to disappear. This is according to Steb Hipple economist at East Tennessee State University. Read the full report at http://faculty.etsu.edu/hipples/LF09q1.htm.

May 18, 2009:

Bush Hog Manufacturing in Washington County, Tennessee will slam the doors in Telford. They will be gone by July 4. Bush Hog notified the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development about the closure today. 142 employees will join the tens of thousands across the region looking for a job.

June 18 2009: Region still getting hammered on jobs. The Times-News is reporting another pending plant closure this time in Johnson City. German company Robert Bosch will dump 140 workers, another victim of the declining auto industry. As usual local economic development hacks were caught with their pants down. Economic Development Board Director P.C. Snapp says, "This came sort of out of the blue. On one of our visits about two months ago we went there, and production was great. They had the manager there and he was pretty confident."

The company claims the reason for the shutdown as "cost competitiveness and the layout of Johnson City's facility." In other words not enough cheap labor or corporate welfare they could get somewhere else in my opinion. This is a union plant, which I'm sure local officials would like to be rid of. In NETWORKS the "Sullivan Partnership" Chief Executive Officer Richard Venable seemed upbeat on all the job losses on local TV back in April. He called this economic meltdown "right-sizing" and claimed this would leave Sullivan County in a better position to compete globally. I guess an unemployment rate of 10.7 precent in Tennessee creates a more third-world labor climate in Tri-Cities.

It must be really working out well at NETWORKS. They have nothing to show since that TV appearance in April according to the Times-News June 18, but new jobs are on the horizon. They claim to have created all kinds of jobs in the past, but refuse to disclose locations, details, pay scales, or how they derive these figures. I'm still waiting for an answer Mr. Venable, formally of the Sullivan County Commission. Keith Wilson publisher of the Kingsport Times-News is the present chairman.

"Morristown's jobless remains the highest in the region even after it dropped to 17.8 percent, and Johnson City's unemployment rate declined to 7.7 percent." Morristown has been flooded with thousands of illegal aliens brought in by business to displace local workers and drive down wages across the region. They also have driven up crime rates across the region as reported by the Times-News June 9th, 2009:

The Sullivan County Sheriff's Office has arrested a man and seized drugs, cars and a large amount of cash from a Kingsport residence. SCSO vice detectives went to 413 Mullins St., just after midnight in order to seize a car after an investigation that began in March when the SCSO started conducting several drug buys in response to information about alleged drug activity there, according to SCSO Chief Deputy Lisa Christian.

When they arrived, a strong marijuana smell coming from the residence prompted them to ask for permission to search it. When the occupants refused, vice officers returned with a search warrant. Officers found four grams of cocaine, 1.4-oz. of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and $10,787 in cash. The drugs and cash were seized along with a 2000 Chevrolet Malibu, 1998 Pontiac Grand Am, two flat screen TVs and several large tires and two rims.

Bristol's official unemployment rate increased to 9.0 percent in April. In Washington County, the rate dropped 0.2 percentage point to 7.9 percent. Hawkins County saw its rate increase from 11 percent to 12 percent, and Greene County's rate increased 0.1 percentage point to 15.3 percent. Hamblen County's rate was unchanged at 12.1 percent. This is according to Don Fenley. The real unemployment rate is much higher. Note that the unemployment rate is dropping somewhat, but that is what it does anyway as unemployment benefits run out and people are simply dropped from the list. At the same time, many will simply draw the money and not even look for a job, so it's hard to sort out. See:

Good news, the local press reports a 2nd. Chick-fil-A Restaurant expected in Bristol! To quote, "people were eagerly and constantly throwing down cash for chicken sandwiches, waffle fries and lemonade." This is front page news?

Taking on the Local Press

According to newspaper circulation reports, the Kingsport Times-News, Johnson City Press and Bristol Herald Courier showed declines in circulation when compared to March last year. The Kingsport Times-News remains the largest daily in the region and the Bristol Herald Courier reported the largest circulation losses.

  • Bristol Herald Courier. Daily circulation down a whopping 13.7 percent to 32,414. Sunday circulation was down 12.62 percent to 34,864.
  • Kingsport Times-News. Daily circulation down 2.27 percent to 43,145. Sunday Circulation was down 3.47 percent to 42,917.
  • Johnson City Press. Daily circulation down 3.96 percent to 29,467. Sunday circulation was off 3.93 percent to 31,013.
Media General Inc., the owner of the Bristol Herald Courier is going the way of the New York Times. Its stock is approaching junk status, they have fired and downsized many of their employees, and stopped matching the 401ks of their employees. J. Todd Foster the editor laments on his editorial Newspapers' Death Would Kill Investigative Reporting on March 22, 2009 on blogs such as mine:
While many of us get our first dose of breaking news on the Internet, the Web rarely reports, edits and produces that news. That duty falls primarily to newspapers and, to a lesser extent, local television and radio. The Web simply regurgitates what other outlets produce...a team of Internet reporters would not be unleashed on cities like our Bristols to cover city council and school board meetings, youth sports or nonprofit groups. True, you would get breaking news of crime and accidents and rewrites of governmental and corporate press releases here. And even in Bristol there will be bloggers - some intelligent and qualified - to comment on the day's news. But those bloggers would have nothing to blog about without the presence of local news generated primarily by a newspaper...The worst thing missing from our society, however, should a newspaperless existence befall us is the end of local investigative reporting as we know it...

The full editorial is here. While I highly respect Mr. Foster he is correct in that I (and most bloggers) don't give a hoot about another Chick-fil-A Restaurant as front page news. While I support the printed press, they are unreliable on a number of issues. They refuse to investigate issues such what happened to the $32 million the Virginia Tobacco Commission gave away for "energy research." In one case as much as much as $1 million was awarded to a wholesale plant nursery owner for energy research. I contacted this person to try to find what he was doing, but he refuses to answer any questions. Same with the other grants, as much as $700 million from this one agency alone.

A newspaper that does its job could get these answers because they have the power to do so, but won't. Bloggers can't get press passes. On a lot of other issues press bias and political correctness often leads to distorted or shallow reporting. On March 28, 2009 they printed the following letter I submitted on this issue:

Re: Newspapers Death (March 22) I agree newspapers are vital, but as a blogger I must clear up some issues. Newspapers and blogs don't serve the same purpose. Their functions should compliment each other.

Newspapers indeed have staff, money, legal backing, and access most bloggers simply don't have. On the other end they are hamstrung with cost, corporate/editorial political bias, political correctness, and having the cover the community in general. Print space is also limited. They have a tough job.

Bloggers should never serve as newspapers, but as watchdogs. We don't have the cost and print space limitations, and are more focused on narrow issues. Bloggers can't obtain press passes (I usually don't need one), but can get into some places the press can't. A proper blogger must serve as a fact-checker with the local press. Bloggers should write on those things the "mainstream press" misses or censors such as:

The violent car-jacking, gang rape, and murder of a young white couple (Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom) in Knoxville by 5 blacks was unreported even in Tri-Cities while the claims of rape by a black prostitute at Duke made headlines for weeks. Broken by bloggers.

Calling illegal aliens "immigrants" and lumping them together with legal immigrants. Hiding the race and immigration status of criminals unless they are white. The UU Church shootings was constant front-page coverage because the perp was white, while the illegal alien that murdered Chandra Levy in Washington had his immigration status hidden. Broken by bloggers and Lou Dobbs.

The "mainstream press" constantly reports in a one-sided manner on global warming, yet bloggers counter these false claims or at least present dissenting views. And so on.

The reason the press is dying is because people no longer trust them to give the facts anymore. That has fallen on bloggers and it shouldn't. Let's support our printed press, and they must earn that support.

Lewis Loflin, Bristol, VA

At the bottom of the letter was an angry retort in which;

they claim the reason they didn't cover the Knoxville killings is because they are in Knoxville and don't concern Bristol;

they don't hide the race of felons and do print their pictures when available;

that their problems are related to a fragmented audience and bad marketing;

I understood the editorial as being about the general press, not just BHC and that was what I was aiming at. Mr. Foster claims "newspapers helped foment dissent among the Colonialists and lit the fuse that became the American Revolution and then became a linchpin in our nation's democratic foundation." Today most of them are simply mouth pieces for the Progressive left. None the less I submitted the following reply:

Re: my letter March 28. Two misquotes aside; it was never aimed at the Herald Courier, but clearly stated "mainstream press" which the Herald Courier relies on for non-local stories.

The Editor claims they didn't cover the Knoxville race killings because they occurred in Knoxville, but the front page (March 28 that day) carried a headline "Hell on Horton Road" about a 20-year-old solved murder case in Valley Stream, New York. What does that have to do with Bristol?

Yes the Courier gave front page headlines to the UU Church shootings in Knoxville and the hysteria from the left-scream press about right-wing hate books (O'Reilly, etc.) as the cause, but still ignores the ongoing Newsom/Christian murder trials. Why? Because the mainscream press ignores it until some stupid white racists show up.

But the strange article "Tenuous Line Between Misunderstanding, Heartache" (April 12) would have been front page news if the abused and underpaid temp worker at a call center had been white instead of black when some ignorant black college professor at Emory started yelling racism. There goes your headline.

The Courier is well known for its bias against a coal-fired power plant in Wise County, then acted as a selling board for costly windmills (March 29) which it endorsed. According to the New York Times (March 29) windmills could raise our power rates by 50 percent.

While Green Theology is a popular religion, printing constant one-sided AP hysterics on global warming seems more than just filling space. Religion overrules reason when the Courier publishes great editorials such as "Most Vulnerable Squeezed Most By Utility Hikes" (March 1) but can't connect the dots. Please explore the effect on rate payers as promised.

Finally, the Courier claims fractured audiences and bad business practices are responsible for the growing irrelevance of the press, not lack of trust. Floyd Norris of the New York Times (January 31) claims only 34 percent of the public trust newspapers. That's George Bush ratings.

Where is the so-called press?

What our "press" failed to report on. From Congressman Rick Boucher's 2009 TRANSPORTATION FUNDING REQUESTS:

Project Name: Rocky Knob Heritage Center Amount: $3,918,595

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the first stage of a multi-phase project to develop a tourist attraction in the geologically unique Rocky Knob section of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Project Name: Bristol Multimodal Transportation Terminal and Trolley System Amount: $900,000

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the City of Bristol's Multimodal Transportation Terminal and Trolley System. The City of Bristol will institute a trolley system in its downtown area to enable people to traverse downtown in an environmentally sound way and enhance economic growth and activity in the downtown area. The project consists of the paving of a city owned tract of land, construction of a covered passenger waiting area furnished with seating and restrooms, and the purchase of three 18-43 passenger trolleys. Two trolleys will be in service with the third available as a backup. The funding provides infrastructure on the Virginia side of the City of Bristol, as the infrastructure on the Tennessee side is already in place.

Perhaps they could ride by our $6 million empty Trainstation the taxpayer recently fixed up. Or our $10-12 million (under construction) country music museum the "stars" refused to pay for. See Virginia Politicians and Highway Pork.

Project Name: High Knob Tower Amount: $432,000

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the reconstruction of the High Knob Tower in the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia which was destroyed by arson in 2007.

Project Name: Cranesnest Trail Amount: $1,221,792

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the Cranesnet Trail in Dickenson County, Virginia. The Cranesnest Trail is comprised of multiple phases and will be approximately 23 miles long at completion. The Cranesnest Trail is planned to accommodate hiking, biking and horseback riding. Multiple parking areas, restrooms, and an accessible fishing pier will be incorporated into the design.

Project Name: Smith River Trail Amount: $935,791

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the Smith River Trail in Henry County, Virginia. The project will continue the Smith River Trail System from Fieldale, Virginia to connect to previously completed phases of the trail. Activities include design and construction of a 2.5 mile, 10 foot-wide paved trail including a pedestrian bridge over the Smith River.

Project Name: Huckleberry Trail, Christiansburg Extension Amount: $1,962,000

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the Huckleberry Trail in Montgomery County, Virginia. The Huckleberry Trail is an existing 5.76 mile regional trail constructed in the early 1990s that started as a 'rails to trails' project. The project is a multi-jurisdictional project that provides regional mobility for both pedestrians and bicyclists.

Project Name: Mayo River Trail Amount: $1,240,220

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the Mayo River Trail in Patrick County, Virginia. The Mayo River Trail will be a public, multi-use trail, spanning approximately three miles from the Patrick Springs-Stuart growth corridor along US Route 58 into Downtown Stuart.

Project Name: Dan River Park Trail Amount: $150,000

Explanation of the Request: The funding will be used to construct the trail connecting Blue Ridge Elementary School to all the features of Dan River Park.

Project Name: New River Trail Extension Amount: $1,345,520

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the New River Trail Extension in Pulaski County, Virginia.

Project Name: Big Stone Gap to Appalachia Trail Amount: $2,500,098

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for a trail between the towns of Big Stone Gap and Appalachia in Wise County, Virginia. The Big Stone Gap-Appalachia Trail project will construct approximately 1.8 miles of multi-use trail along an abandoned railroad line.

Project Name: Haysi-Breaks Trail Amount: $3,753,875

Explanation of the Request: This funding is for the Haysi-Breaks Trail in Dickenson County, Virginia. The Haysi-Breaks multi-use trail is a multi-phased project.

Total cost: $18,359,891 that will not fill a single pothole nor create a single long-term job.

More: Boucher secures $476,244 to help 42 high school dropouts (at a cost of over $10,000 each) get a GED. Federal Funding Will Benefit People Inc.'s Youth Build Program. People Inc. is a great organization. They often act as a funnel for a number of government programs including weatherizing homes, etc. They helped my family several years ago and I have very high regards for them. But is this really a good idea?

These programs already exist to help dropouts get their GED for free. These building trades training is available at existing community colleges and vocational centers such as the William N. Neff Campus , Manpower, etc. Yet these same dropouts are often just lazy and refuse to use these programs now. Perhaps People Inc. can do what the schools here can't do. That same $10,000 per student could have put 50 low-income students that didn't choose to dropout of school through the local community college with two-year degrees. But to quote Congressman Boucher:

"The federal funding announced today (June 16) will assist People Inc. provide 42 young adults who have dropped out of high school with an opportunity to earn their GED while at the same time receiving training for a career in the construction industry."

To his credit Congressman Boucher does claim he got a Veterans Administration out patient clinic to locate in Bristol Virginia. This was a big help to local veterans. See Congressman Rick Boucher Supports Earmarks. Boucher is ranked by Citizens Against Government Waste as one of the biggest porkers in Congress, but nobody can deny he is an economic force in Southwest Virginia.

In the 1990s

According to the Kids Count report (BHC 6-22-2003):

...two groups of children were left out of the boom times of the 1990s. The robust economy did little to help children in the inner cities and in rural communities like those of far Southwest Virginia, according to the report. A local political science professor believes he knows the reason for the discrepancy. "It all comes back to jobs," said Steve Fisher, director of the Appalachian Center for Community Services at Emory & Henry College. "With the decline of the coal industry, a lot of the good-paying jobs have disappeared."

A string of factory closings has affected the economy in counties along the Interstate 81 corridor, particularly Smyth County, Fisher said. And, many of the jobs that have replaced the ones in the coal mines and factories generally have been lower-paying and less likely to include benefits, he said. "Even two minimum-wage jobs together won't take a family above the poverty line...the numbers for Washington County (VA) are misleading. "There are pockets of wealth in Abingdon and Emory, but in general, it's a pretty poor county..."

To be fair, Bristol and Tri-Cities have a lot of positives except for a shortage of higher paying jobs and low levels of education. We are a good retirement community and the cost of living is low compared to most urban areas of the country, but so is Mexico for similar reasons. There is a substantial income gap and a high level of poverty, but we have fairly low crime rates. Sullivan County, Tennessee and Washington County, Virginia are among the wealthiest counties in their respective states, but both lie within a sea of rural poverty with pockets of poverty within. The basis of the economy has been manufacturing, but that is being replaced (as is much of the nation) with poverty-wage service, retirement, and tourism industries. In 2001 ING Investments ranked Tri-Cities among the worse places to earn a living, and in another study in 2008 ranked the region with inner-city slums on issues such as health, income, education.


"Tea Party" tax Protestors in Kingsport, TN
Photo Kingsport Times-News

Tea Party Tax Protest in Tri-Cities

April 15, 2009 Kingsport, Tenn: My wife and I attended the tax protest "Tea Party" in Kingsport. The event ran from 3 PM to 5 PM. This was to protest it seems a variety of what is often considered Republican issues. The demands and signs promoted every so-called "conservative" cause under the sun. "No more socialism" read one sign while another read "We love Glenn Beck." The event seemed to be organized by Johnny Roberts (www.johnnyroberts.info) who warned at the beginning about extremism and bad behavior would reflect badly on all of us and not to do it. The rally was peaceful and polite. I'd estimate there were at least 200 people there and the local press reports other protests were held in Bristol, TN, Abingdon, VA, and Greenville. In Bristol they threw mock tea (a styrofoam cooler) into Beaver Creek.

It was billed as non-partisan and in my view it was. While the left-wing press will bill this as some Rush Limbaugh or Fox News conspiracy, that simply isn't true. There were as many jeers towards Republicans as Democrats as all being the problem. Yes some politicians were there such as David Davis whose people handed out copies of the Constitution and little American flags. (My wife and I got ours.) David Davis lost the 2008 GOP primary to Phil Roe by about 500 votes. He is quoted as saying, "I'm keeping the door open. This event is really about freedom and liberty. ... We've lost our faith in God as a Christian nation. And we've lost our faith in the Constitution. If we get back to those two things, America continues to be a shining city on the hill." That kind of crap will get him nowhere, except perhaps in Kingsport. According to the Times-News (August 2008) he blamed his loss on Democratic crossovers. I don't think so. Idiots like this is why I had to look into many facets of religion to see what makes them tick.

On Religion

There is a great deal of material on this site in regards to religion, in particular subjects related to rational monotheism. While rejecting elements Christian theology as a form of Gnosticism (Gnosticism is not used as an attack), I'm not anti-Christian and in fact as a classical Deist/Unitarian I consider Christians and Jews as fellow believers. This is a skeptic site, but that also includes equal treatment of radical Islam, and secular pseudo-theologies such as socialism/Marxism, radical environmentalism. Those I do oppose and do so openly. They are a threat to our freedoms, Christianity is not. They are as irrational as the ravings of Pat Robertson. This includes all form of racist, left-wing "liberation theology." Also see Sullivan County, TN. Exposed

To quote a visitor to this website:

I think it is safe to say, that with the election of Barack Obama as president, that there is no way that a tiny elite of rich powerful Jews controls the world. The conspiracy theories that say a tiny elite of rich powerful Jews controls the world are undeniably flat wrong. If there was such a powerful group they would have never let him become president. The Jewish conspiracy theory is completely busted.

D.C. RN, BSN

Overview of Religion
Deism Christianity Judaism Islam Gnosticism Unitarianism
Zoroastrianism Pantheism Fundamentalism Evolution Original Sin Trinity
End Times Apostle Paul Apostle John John Calvin St. Augustine Pelagius
Martin Luther Real Jesus Identity Willie Martin Royal Race Pat Robertson

How did I go from local culture to religion? In a community that in 2001 ING ranked as one of the worse to earn a living, and in 2008 ranked in the bottom 10% nationally, local religious fundamentalist' fanatics (known as the Religious Right) showed utter indifference. As thousands of jobs were lost from 1990 to present, all they were obsessed with the Y2K Rapture by putting emergency services on alert and hanging the Ten Commandments in the Sullivan County Courthouse. To quote one former supervisor, Sullivan County doesn't lay down for atheists. The Sullivan Baptist Association was behind this (as in Southern Baptist Convention and a tactic promoted by Jerry Falwell) I asked to hang a plaque and the process be opened to all faiths. I was refused, I accused them of pandering to Jerry Falwell and the Southern Baptist Convention, claiming the anti-Christ was coming and was a Jew. Super bigot Bob Jones shows up to lend his support. Even while they were hanging the thing Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, the region's largest employer, just fired another 750 workers. The indifference, at least in public, was shocking. I was threatened with legal action over this website and public comments on their pandering. What I didn't know at the time was is an effort to draw attention to the poverty and job problems here, I stumbled into the cross-hairs of a religious war between the Religious Right and the Religious/Secular Left.

See Left versus Right and Christian Fundamentalism.

Also see New Age Religion and What is paganism?

Yes there is a Religious Left, often in a tense relationship with the Secular Left. They agree on most issues except religion. So I was forced to look into both sides and I revile both sides. Their indifference towards common working class people (white, black, or Hispanic) and their irrational thinking should make everyone fearful. They call themselves various labels such as liberals, but I'm a classical liberal and these people are not liberals. Hillary Clinton doesn't like the term liberal either, because she isn't one, but prefers the term Progressive. While being mostly a hodge-podge of left-wing causes and hard to define, they are in every sense of the term a religion. They are as fundamentalist and intolerant and just as prone to using government coercion and intimidation to remake society as does Pat Robertson.

Their main religious views are dogmatic Humanism/Marxism (more the secular left, but overlap on many social issues) and with Al Gore leading an environmental religious crusade. See Al Gore, Earth in the Balance, and the Rejection of Reason. Both are a mortal threat to individual liberty and freedom. Socialism can be a pseudo-religion in itself. They're for helping the poor, but by wealth redistribution and dependency, not supplying the skills and means to live independent lives. In a way it's social and economic serfdom and they fight to keep it that way.


Al Gore

Exposing the Watermelon Cult

What does Al Gore say about the science behind global warming? "As it happens, the idea of social justice is inextricably linked in the Scriptures with ecology." It's not about science and poor working-class people shouldn't suffer needless hardship for people like Gore. Virginia government is diverting millions in needed economic development for global warming pork-barrel research, much of it designed to secure other federal grants.

In low-wage, high-poverty Appalachia and Bristol needless inflation is devastating. But when it comes to environmentalists they don't care. The environmental movement and its followers really consist of two broad groups: socialists and pagan earth/nature worshippers, which is why I call them the Watermelon Cult. Like the Religious Right and big business within the Republican party, they are both special interests with their own agenda and use each other to obtain it. The big losers are the working poor as always. Environmentalism in my opinion is the pseudo-religion of the white-collar liberal.

As of May 18, 2009 TVA has announced a drop in power rates due to recent rainfall that refilled lakes. The Tennessee Valley Authority will trim electric rates again on July 1, effectively erasing a huge rate boost approved last year to offset rising fuel costs. The latest reduction will mean a 4.1 percent drop in wholesale power charges to TVA distributors serving some 8.7 million consumers in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

May 15th, 2009 Kingsport Times-News: After implementing a 31 percent rate increase totaling $168 million at the beginning of the year, Appalachian Power filed two additional increase requests Friday with the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The subsidiary of American Electric Power (AEP) says the increase is needed to recover the cost of fuel and investments in meeting environmental compliance requirements and improving service reliability...

New Age Beliefs Don't Belong In Energy Policy

Letters To The Editor Published: May 23, 2009

Re the letter: "Renewable energy will grow jobs," published April 29, why wasn't Mr. Tolbert identified as being on the staff of a leftist' PAC called "Environment Virginia" (http://www.environmentvirginia.org) and that his letter is their political literature?

When Tolbert uses terms such as "heal our planet" he again proves environmentalism is a pseudo-religion violating separation of religion/state. I have news for Mr. Tolbert and other followers of the watermelon cult (Green theology, Red politics): The earth is not holy, divine, sacred, or god/goddess in any form. This pantheistic New Age nonsense has no business as government policy.

He perpetrates the lie about "jobs" to promote this belief system because all the computer models used to promote the man-induced global warming hysteria have been debunked by the record cold of the past 18 months. That wasn't supposed to have happened. Why are ice jams, etc. causing flooding in Fargo and the Midwest?

These so-called "green jobs" will require massive corporate welfare and will result in huge cost increases for energy. It will waste perhaps trillions of dollars. But don't worry the Messiah in the White House that promised tax breaks for 95 percent of us will simply kill us with a carbon tax. But he promise to send us a check for two-thirds of the loot collected. That's the tax cuts that liar in the White House promised, which is really a tax increase.

Finally the Herald Courier endorsed those stupid wind farms in Wise County without revealing the true cost to consumers. Its reporting on this issue seemed biased and one-sided. According to the New York Times (March 29) wind power costs even more than proven, reliable nuclear power plants. But the watermelon cult objects to that, too, even with the projected 50 percent increase in electric bills.

Tell Congressman Boucher not to support the American Clean Energy and Security Act and its hidden religious and social agenda. Lewis Loflin Bristol, Va.

Bristol Herald Courier Editor's note: This newspaper endorsed a site in Wise County, Va. for a possible wind project that is secluded from the public and has a willing private landowner, but noted it is not clear if the project is financially viable. We also stated we would determine the effect on ratepayers if the project moves forward.

The Bristol Herald Courier went ahead and endorsed this bill and Rick Boucher voted for it. They call it a "Energy Compromise A Great Step Forward" (May 22) Their reasoning? To quote,
The obvious truth: Energy costs will increase due to new environmental safeguards in the bill, but no one truly knows by how much. Yet another truth: Congress must act or the EPA will, and the agency cannot take economics into the equation. That's why business, after dragging its feet and denying for decades that global warming exists, is getting on board. Industry might not welcome a carbon cap, but some leaders fear an EPA regulation would be even more restrictive. We definitely want more clarity on the potential costs, but a carbon-cap-and-trade plan is a good way to begin reducing carbon emissions...

The full editorial is here. They don't care about costs, they can afford it and think it's worth it. The simple fact is the Progressive left wants this and their reporting on this has been totally one-sided and they don't deny it. That is why the press is worthless on these issues. This endorsement matched their reporting exactly. They never presented any dissenting views at all. One question that must be asked is why has the EPA got such power in the first place?

As for Congressman Boucher the Pork King, here is what he got for selling his vote:

1. Lots of pork. According to Rick, "My proposal to provide assured federal funding of $1 billion annually for the rapid development of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technologies has been included in the legislation. Over a 10-year period, the $10 billion which this fund will produce, according to expert observation, will provide available, affordable and reliable carbon dioxide separation and storage technologies by 2020. These technologies will enable coal to be burned by power plants without emitting carbon dioxide, and their arrival will assure that coal will continue to be America's primary fuel for electricity generation." The whole idea is just stupid.

2. Corporate welfare. To quote, "I also ask for a special fund of between $75 and $100 billion, the exact value to be determined by then the current emission allowance prices, to assist with the cost of deploying carbon capture and sequestration technologies when they become available. This fund was also included in the legislation." Where is the money coming from? Us of coarse.

3. Playing to regional coal industry to cover his butt. To quote, "Essential to my support of the legislation was a third recommendation under which emission allowances be provided for free to the emitting entities rather than requiring that the allowances be purchased by them at government-sponsored auctions. Free allowances reduce the overall cost of the program helping to secure the role for coal and helping to keep electricity prices affordable in regions such as ours where most of the electricity is coal fired. That provision is also a part of the legislation approved by the committee." This is just nonsense.

To quote The Boston Globe March 8, 2009,

The United States has shivered through an unusually severe winter, with snow falling in such unlikely destinations as New Orleans, Las Vegas, Alabama, and Georgia. On Dec. 25, every Canadian province woke up to a white Christmas, something that hadn't happened in 37 years. Earlier this year, Europe was gripped by such a killing cold wave that trains were shut down in the French Riviera and chimpanzees in the Rome Zoo had to be plied with hot tea. Last week, satellite data showed three of the Great Lakes - Erie, Superior, and Huron - almost completely frozen over. In Washington, D.C., what was supposed to be a massive rally against global warming was upstaged by the heaviest snowfall of the season, which paralyzed the capital.

Meanwhile, the National Snow and Ice Data Center has acknowledged that due to a satellite sensor malfunction, it had been underestimating the extent of Arctic sea ice by 193,000 square miles - an area the size of Spain. In a new study, University of Wisconsin researchers Kyle Swanson and Anastasios Tsonis conclude that global warming could be going into a decades-long remission. The current global cooling "is nothing like anything we've seen since 1950," Swanson told Discovery News. Yes, global cooling: 2008 was the coolest year of the past decade - global temperatures have not exceeded the record high measured in 1998, notwithstanding the carbon-dioxide that human beings continue to pump into the atmosphere.


The face of Muslim terrorism.

Opposing anti-White Racism

Affirmative action, diversity, etc. are just racist code-words for anything but white people. The press in particular has a total double standard in it's reporting and distorting anything to attack white Americans and their culture while under-reporting or censoring the far more common levels of black on white crime. The failures of so-called "minorities" is mostly self-inflicted. Unwed motherhood, drug abuse, crime, and dropping out of school are chosen behavior and it's their fault on the outcome.

In the case of the black Muslim above that shot up an army recruiting station, the story will get some press for now, but if it had been white Christians it would be front page news for months, the civil-right hustlers would be out in force, etc. Yet the very people that attempted to bomb Synagogues in New York and in this incident were left off the terror watch list that included people such as white veterans.

Many blacks/Hispanics while used as pawns by white liberal-Progressives are stabbed in the back by the social policies. Mass illegal and legal immigration has destroyed the working-class of all Americans and benefit rich whites conservative and liberal. To quote Dr. Walter E. Williams in his essay A Nation of Cowards:

The bottom line is that the civil rights struggle is over and it is won. At one time black Americans didn't share the constitutional guarantees shared by whites; today we do. That does not mean that there are not major problems that confront a large segment of the black community, but they are not civil rights problems nor can they be solved through a "conversation on race." Black illegitimacy stands at 70 percent; nearly 50 percent of black students drop out of high school; and only 30 percent of black youngsters reside in two-parent families. In 2005, while 13 percent of the population, blacks committed over 52 percent of the nation's homicides and were 46 percent of the homicide victims. Ninety-four percent of black homicide victims had a black person as their murderer. Such pathology, I think much of it precipitated by family breakdown, is entirely new among blacks. In 1940, black illegitimacy was 19 percent; in 1950, only 18 percent of black households were female-headed compared with today's 70 percent. Both during slavery and as late as 1920, a teenage girl raising a child without a man present was rare among blacks...

Before some leftist' Progressive tries to play the race card, See my disclaimer on racism. The same self-destructive behavior destroying black America afflicts lower-class white America in this region and has identical results. It's not race, but culture and personal behavior.

This is a complex issue that has been debated for centuries. Are people poor because it's inflicted on them by the evil rich? Or is their fault? Is it simply bad luck and economic changes? In my opinion the answer is all of it. There is no grand scheme or conspiracy so people must learn to fend for themselves.

Rural America is mostly poor and mostly white. 48% of the poor in America are white. Other figures say 66%. Poor white people outnumber by far poor blacks, yet rich white people prefer to see racism instead of the real problems they often benefit from. As government has replaced the private sector the same pattern repeats itself. The government worker making a solid middle-class wage and benefits has nothing to do socially or otherwise with the worker at Wal-Mart. The welfare state has destroyed both the work ethic and the respect lower wage workers once had. Now the poor are often seen as parasites because some abuse the system.

Update on the Christian/Newsom murders in Knoxville for June 1, 2009. See Cobbins/Coleman Trial Delayed, Legal Games, Defence Plays the Race Card

To quote the Washington Post August 31, 2005:

The poverty rate climbed in 2004 to 12.7 percent, from 12.5 percent in 2003 -- the fourth year in a row that (white) poverty has risen. The increase was borne completely by non-Hispanic whites, the only ethnic group that saw its poverty rate rise. The percentage of whites in poverty rose from 8.2 percent in 2003 to 8.6 percent...

According to data released by The Weekly Yonder February 25, 2009 that rural unemployment in Tennessee hit 15.2% at the end of December 2008 and for rural Virginia hit 14.4%. The real unemployment rate in Tri-Cities/Bristol region is between 10%-15% even before the latest Stock Market debacle. In other words the increasing white poverty rate hits rural white America the hardest.

Other facts to consider:

Number of White people living in poverty: 21,922,000
Number of Black people living in poverty: 8,360,000
(U.S. Census Bureau, 1999)
White collar: avg hourly wage = $22.20
Service: avg hourly wage = $10.92
Blue collar: avg hourly wage = $13.71

The above shows what happened to our region. One local politician bitterly complained about the lack of white collar jobs and did it in public. That just doesn't happen here because if not discussed, the problem doesn't exist. We never had that many white collar jobs outside government and lawyers, most of the region was blue collar. Most of those blue collar jobs, that never paid that much, have been downsized to services. The wage gap is bad enough, but high levels of divorce and single mothers accounts for a lot of problems. We also can't ignore why black people are poor even with anti-white racism known as affirmative action.

President Obama got trounced in the election in this region not because of race, but the fact this is a blue collar culture while he represents a wealthy white-collar culture. The same white-collar central planning types that have played social engineer for 40 years don't have a clue about the people here and their programs never work. They are no more successful here than the inner city ghettos. Note that Bill Clinton also got trounced here by similar margins as did John Kerry. There seems a large degree of contempt from white Progressives towards working-class whites.

To quote Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Governmental Studies: "The most corrupt region is Southwest Virginia - more indictments for political and public office corruption have happened in this region than all other parts of the state combined."

To quote Rex Todd of Winston-Salem, N.C.-based The Landmark Group, "Rather than have the working-class people sequestered on one side of town and the rich on the other side of town, the idea is to integrate people..." More here...

To quote Washington County supervisor Paul Price, "The rich get richer, and the poor never catch up." More here...

Obama, Immigration, etc. in Bristol

When Senator Obama came to Bristol, Virginia his teleprompter broke down. Without a script he was totally lost and fumbling around. The facts are illegal immigration, diversity, and immigration in general are just more economic exploitation. Besides being racist in itself, it undermines the blue collar working class and is being increasingly implemented in the Bristol region. McCain, Obama, and Clinton alike are bought and paid for by the illegal immigration industry.

In fact a so-called "futurist" came to Tri-Cities at the behest of business leaders to sell the idea. Ed Barlow of Creating the Future had this to say March 4, 2004 in the Kingsport Times-News:

"A significant component of your economic future in Sullivan County is recruiting Hispanics, making sure they get highly educated and integrated into the community. ... They can fill all of the various job categories you have." The future economic vitality model is based on the back of a well-educated, ethnically diverse work force, Barlow said.

Comment: what in the hell do illiterate, unskilled Hispanics have to with "well-educated?" Our "well-educated" are already undesirable for the mere fact of being "over qualified."


What $2.5 million buys in Bristol.
Photo: Lewis Loflin

"Voodoo" economic development at Bristol Exit 7

Exit 7 between Bristol, Virginia and Washington County, Virginia has been a focal point for lawsuits and finger pointing. Update: Developer defaults, taxpayers shafted. See Nicewonder Property Fiasco in 2009: $2.5 million Tax Dollars Wasted

Forbes.com survey: TCRA tied for third on list of 'Rip-Off Airports'

Tri-Cities Regional Airport tied for third in a survey ranking "America's Rip-Off Airports" compiled by Forbes.com. The rankings were based on average air fare per mile, with travelers recorded as paying 39 cents per mile to fly out of TCRA....

TCRA Marketing Director Melissa Thomas blames it on airlines: "Fares during the summer were extremely high, and (TCRA) staff was in frequent contact with airline pricing personnel working on the issue. As a result, both Delta and US Airways lowered fares at (TCRA) to much more competitive levels...Airlines set their fares based on many factors in an effort to maximize their profit on any given flight..."

Thomas further said according to the press, "TCRA typically has been seen more as a "business market" than a 'leisure market,' and that airlines typically see business travelers as more willing and able to pay a premium - something that leaves leisure travelers wanting to leave from the Tri-Cities often saddled with higher-than-average fares." Kingsport Times-News February 24, 2009. Perhaps one reason why there's so few pleasure travelers is the poverty rates are so high for working people they can't afford to fly to Florida.

Is it just class warfare? Do many of these "poor" people bring their problems on themselves? In many cases and I hate to admit it, yes. Is it indifference with much of the public? In some cases yes. The fact is that post 1970s Appalachia, Bristol, and Tri-Cites is nothing like that of the pre-1970s. While they play up this "Hillbilly" culture nonsense for tourists, it really doesn't apply. The Tri-Cities region is a diverse mosaic. Sort of rural, sort of urban. Tri-Cities is about manufacturing and increasingly services and retirement, all bad for working people. That is my focus, the working poor.

Lawn Mower Theft

BHC reports (January 15, 2009) that Washington County Va. Sheriff's deputies are looking into lawn mower thefts. They were stolen from Abingdon Equipment Company and while trying to get away the crooks plowed into a man rushing to a hospital emergency room. The suspects fled the crash scene after unhitching and leaving behind the trailer carrying the lawn mowers. The crash victim is in fair condition. Sheriff Newman is asking for help in finding the culprits.

Middle Class Feeling What Working Class has Endured for Years

Nobody ever cared about the working class in Bristol. They are expendable, disposable, and looked down on. Nobody wanted them living in their neighborhood, but they were welcome to clean the yards and work at the local restaurants and tourist attractions. After all many of the elite either lived on fat government jobs or transfer payments. But it seems this is starting to dry up. With government being forced to cut back and Wall Street in ruins, it isn't the working poor suffering all the losses.

Ronny Nelson's Quick Cash Pawn Shop reports they have a new clientele, middle class people. Many have lost 401ks, and jobs and are pawning anything. This includes a 16-foot bass boat, laptops, jewelry, etc. To quote Nelson, "Middle class people are coming in. Customers we haven't seen before. They're looking for second tier lending from somewhere else. A second place where they can manufacture some cash." Business is up 30%. Mr. J's Buy and Sell Furniture has also seen a surge of business, which they blame on the housing crisis. They report a lot of people with foreclosed homes coming in and TV news reports show mountains of tools, etc. as construction has but disappeared. Worrisome is the dependence of Bristol on government money and transfer payments, which have or will diminish. Ref. Chan. 11 1-6-2009

I'll be doing a hard-hitting look in at the Virginia Tobacco Commission that awarded $32 million in "energy research" grants designed to tap into the billions being spent on the global warming hysteria. In fact it was a high-priced jobs program for their fellow white-collar parasites feeding on the public teat. They have spent over $750 million and have nothing to show for it. They funded worthy projects such as $300,000 to make 50 webpages. They just awarded (in 2008) $32 million for worthless pork-barrel energy research. I'll be looking in detail who got the money. The following focuses on environmentalism itself, the excuse they used, often a religion to its followers.


Winner Mr Hogg's Pork Award

Tobacco commission porked-out $14 million for regional economic development

The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission approved more than $14 million in pork-barrel waste under the guise of "economic development" according to state Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol. The commission met at Mountain Empire Community College, which like community colleges across the region, suffered a 5% budget cut because of shortfalls in Richmond. Among the idiotic projects they approved:

Another $6.1 million of a total $17 million to develop the so-called Southwest Virginia Artisan Center in Abingdon to be housed at Virginia Highlands Community College, whose academic programs also suffered budget cuts in 2007. Abingdon, about 14 miles from Bristol, is the wealthiest community in Southwest Virginia. Some studies they won't produce claim the 29,000-square-foot center "could attract" tourists. "It will house gallery space, retail areas and offices for The Crooked "Money" Road and the Round the Mountain artist organization." These organizations have so far produced nothing. In other words it's an expensive taxpayer funded crafts shop that has nothing to do with tobacco farmers getting new jobs.

My favorite part is, "create 202 jobs during the construction phase." But how about after the construction phase? The Scott County Economic Development Authority garnered $4.3 million to build the $7.2 Duffield Regional Technology Center that "has the potential to create 125 to 150 jobs." After years of these promises it's about time they deliver. Again it's more research into using coal for energy uses, which it already does. Duh. The Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center got $400,000 to develop an energy research and development program. Ref. BHC Oct 26, 2007

Boucher loses House panel chair, Tobacco Commission Screwed

A liberal Massachusetts Democrat will take over a House subcommittee that will play a major role in drafting legislation on global warming and other environmental issues. Rep. Edward Markey, known for his tough stances on environmental issues, will replace Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat who has been friendly to the coal industry. Boucher had chaired the panel eight years. Markey's appointment is another sign that House Democrats plan to aggressively tackle global warming and other environmental problems. He will take charge of an expanded subcommittee with broader jurisdiction, renamed Energy and Environment... January 9, 2009 Associated Press.

The Tobacco Commission was counting on Boucher to send millions their way as matching grants for their millions in energy pork research.

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Shoes

A Kingsport shop has seen an increase in residents fixing shoes because they can't afford new ones. To quote the owner, "We've been getting a lot of customers saying they really can't afford to go out and buy new shoes." He went from 50-60 pairs of shoes a day a year ago to 75-100. Shoes cost between $5-$15 to repair. We also have a shoe repair shop in Bristol. Ref. BHC January 2, 2009

WJHL (December 24, 2008) reports that retail sales in Kingsport are up. This is mainly due to new stores at new malls like The Kingsport Pavilion and Reedy Creek Terrace. In November Kingsport released findings that their sales revenue has increased by 10-percent over 2007. What will 2009 bring?


The Bristol VA Trainstation Finally Opens Costing $6 Million Tax Dollars

Published: December 19, 2008 BHC

Early this week Congressman Rick Boucher was shown on a local TV station extolling the merits of his latest vote buying bid to build another museum in Southwest Virginia, using transportation department funds. At least $1.5 million of transportation funds were used to renovate the Bristol Train Station. Here again Boucher, Senator Warner and Tennessee politicians were involved in this misuse of transportation funds.

One of the more egregious examples of misuse is the $750,000 secured by Boucher to build horse trails in a national forest. In Virginia, adequate funds aren't available to maintain existing highways, much less build new ones. Yet we continue to allow our elected officials to buy our votes and defend their actions by stating the mantra that state/federal laws mandate spending transportation funds for non-transportation projects.

Who is to blame? We, the voters, who act like pigs at the trough when it comes to taking this "free money." The only way to change this is to send a clear message to both parties that this misuse of funds must cease. Jerry C. Bristol.

The reality of Minimum Wage

In May 2007, Congress approved legislation raising the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour by the end of 2009. They raised the wage from $5.85 to $6.55 in July 2008. Minimum wage earners were paid a base salary of $10,712, this will raise their base salary to a whopping $13,624.

But let's take another look. $10,712 in 1997 should be $14,604 in 2007 just to keep up with inflation, not counting exploding inflation of 2008. The inflation calculator shows $5.15 an hour in 1997 should be $6.74 in 2007.

$2.00 in 1974 would be $9.24 in 2007;
$3.10 in 1980 would be $8.75 in 2007;
$4.25 in 1991 would be $6.66 in 2007;
$5.15 in 1997 would be $6.74 in 2007.

Yet, minimum wage just went to $6.55 in 2008! $2.00 an hour in 1974 should be $9.24 in 2007. Even at $6.55 in 2008, minimum wage has lost almost one-third of its value since 1974 as of 2007. The working class is being hammered from all directions. Most jobs "created "in this area pay under $8 an hour. See Illegal Alien Problem in Tennessee.

Quick facts about Bristol VA/TN.

For a more detailed analysis see The system, Income, and Education in Bristol VA/TN

Less than 9th grade 12%
9th to 12th grade, no diploma 15%
High school graduate 29%
Some college, no degree 20%
Associate's degree 6%
Bachelor's degree 13%
Graduate degree 4%

Race
White 94%
Black or African American 6%
Median monthly rent $409
Household Income
Less than $10,000 16%
$10,000 to $14,999 11%
$15,000 to $24,999 19%

$25,000 to $34,999 16%
$35,000 to $49,999 17%
$50,000 to $74,999 13%
$75,000 to $99,999 5%
$100,000 to $149,999 2%
$150,000 to $199,999 1%
$200,000 or more 1%

249 Lebanon, Virginia $16,678
266 Buchanan, Virginia $16,238
280 Weber City, Virginia $15,856
360 Duffield, Virginia $12,046

Job breakdown for Bristol, VA based on March 2002 data from the Virginia Employment Commission I did myself. This excludes high paid professional jobs (about 12%) such as doctors, lawyers, etc. By excluding those high paid occupations from being averaged into the general workforce, a true picture of earnings appears. 75% of the Bristol area workforce earns less than $8.00 an hour. It should also be noted the biggest sources of income in Bristol are transfer payments: welfare, social security, retirement, government, etc. Note the data in this form is no longer available and they refuse to say why. Also note data on major employers is blocked. They prefer broad averages, not specifics.

Job Category Percent of population Pay per week Per hour Yearly
Government 13% $584.00 $14.60 $30,368.00
Manufacturing 23% $300.00 $7.50 $15,600.00
Services 33% $240.00 $6.00 $12,480.00
Trade 19% $240.00 $6.00 $12,480.00

Part of the data above is based on a poll done by the VCEDA or the Virginia Coalfields Economic Development Association. Their poll showed perspective businesses how low labor rates really are and with the other state agencies handed out millions in taxpayer dollars, hope to lure new business to the depressed region. This is what the business types were supposed to see, not the public. I got this right off their website. When they found out (as I was told) it appeared on this website, they pulled it.

No decent skilled worker or college grad will work for this kind of pay. The result is a mass out-migration of skilled and educated workers. As the above Tarnoff report revealed, it's the poverty pay mentality. And who got the good jobs? The folks working for VCEDA, and scores of other useless state, local, and federal agencies get the good jobs. In the VCEDA area, that's about 23% of the population in 2005 according to the VEC and covers most private sector jobs in the region.

Wage Rates - Selected Industry Job Titles Average
General Production $7.24/hr.
Warehouse Technician $7.43/hr.
Secretary/Receptionist $5.50/hr.
Customer Service Rep. $6.18/hr.
Data Entry $6.00/hr.

Source: VCEDA Survey of local businesses, 2002 based on data before the massive downturn following September 11. There is no reason to believe it has gotten any better through January 2005. I'm in the process of updating the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) data.

Unemployment stats are really fun and are totally inaccurate. According to VEC, only those actively drawing unemployment compensation are treated as unemployed. Most benefits last about six months, so after six months unemployment goes down even if there are no jobs. This is further distorted by the way jobs are counted. The figures are inflated by counting every part time job held by children and retirees into the mix. A better indicator of employment is the poverty rate and the number of children on free and reduced lunches at school. In Bristol, 46% of children are on free/reduced lunches. This was up from 41% in 1995. Dickenson County had has held steady at 57% from 1995 to 2002. Dickenson County is all coal, while Bristol isn't coal at all. By the time we count in the massive loss of jobs in Bristol in 2003-2004, they should be near equal. Bristol and Dickenson County had the worst unemployment rates in early 2004, but the unemployment rate is much better six months later. The unemployment rate went down, I'd bet the poverty climbed and the population dropped again. ING Investments ranked Tri-Cities in general at an almost 24% poverty rate in 2001.

Other issues. This website and writer have been quoted in the Richmond Times Dispatch, Los Angeles Times, and the Kingsport Times-News, and Bristol Herald Courier.

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