Government waste in Bristol
Tri-Cities Virginia/Tennessee Exposed
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; University of New Hampshire's Cynthia M. Duncan calls it Worlds Apart in her book on "Why Poverty Persists in Rural America."

To quote the late Bill Deel, a retired English teacher from 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 Virginia/Tennessee and the Tri-Cities region are good for retirement, bad for earning a living even for most college graduates.

This region can be summed up as follows:

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...

Update on the Christian/Newsom Murder Trial

Hunger and the Arts in Southwest Virginia

"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. His company occupies a taxpayer funded building at the small business incubator in Abingdon. This facility that cost millions has simply not created any real jobs but provides discount office space for existing business and non-profits sucking up taxpayer grants. When did the taxpayers get into the discount office space business for private companies? This project and the so-called Stone Mill technology park has received millions of tax dollars diverted from healthcare and education programs to fund another form of corporate welfare. For anyone wanting some welfare for their business see www.washcova.com



Alpha Natural Resources was recognized for giving $25,000 to the William King Museum in Abingdon, the wealthiest community in the region, so they can buy two Dodge Caravans. (September 29, 2009) As the giddy Bristol Herald Courier reports the gas-guzzlers will be "used to travel to coalfield counties and give art instruction to students who may not get other art classes." Guess they will still go to bed hungry. To its credit Alpha has donated thousands to local food banks. As the Courier rambles on, "The 'Van Gogh' vans are frequently used to give art instruction to students in Wise, Scott, Lee and Dickenson counties....The William King Museum could not bring art instruction to these children without the support of companies like Alpha Natural Resources and Family Ford. For all the children who will learn something rewarding about art, and their own potential, we say thank you." We don't have many jobs and some don't have food, but we sure the hell have art.

Stop Obama’s Socialism
Sample of merchandise from the Graphic Edge that rattled the liberal fascists.

Kicked out of the Johnson City Mall by Political Correctness

Dan Fuchs was operating a kiosk at the Johnson City Mall selling items such as T-shirts and bumper stickers. The Obamanite useful idiots complained slogans such as "SOS: Stop Obama's Socialism," "Nobama," and "Chicago got the party, but the country got the hangover" were offensive according to Mall officials. His company the Graphic Edge got kicked out by Mall officials after they suggested he sell pro-Obama merchandise.



According to the Johnson City Press (September 25, 2009): Now it appears Fuchs is out of business at the mall, but mall officials say this decision was not based upon political views...Fuchs was handed a lease termination notice by mall officials and signed by Mall General Manager Tembra Aldridge. The letter states that the option to terminate the lease agreement is effective 11:59 p.m. today and that he must vacate the mall premises and remove his property before then....

Marsha Hammond, the mall's marketing director, has a different take...Aldridge and Melinda Davis, the mall's specialty leasing representative, suggested that Fuchs also display items in support of Obama. The mall had received several complaints from customers regarding the anti-Obama items, she said. Hammond also said that it was Fuchs' decision to remove the items completely from display."

Some critics of Fuchs claim this was staged for publicity, I don't buy it. The Mall claims this is private property and they can do what they want. Below is a message from Mr. Fuchs and I encourage everyone to support him by buying his products. The fact is the liberal fascists are rattled at the level of opposition to their agenda and this again proves their claims of tolerance and free speech are just lies. Contact the Johnson City Mall and let your view be known or better yet just boycott it.

Posted by (Graphic Edge) September 25, 2009:

Personally I feel like I was unfairly terminated from the Mall at Johnson City. 10 minutes after I was told to "balance out" and display a fair amount of "Pro Obama" items, evenly balancing out the Anti-Obama items, I was also told my lease was safe until it expired, I was then handed my termination papers.

I have asked the general public for ideas and suggestions on what else to display, but yet all I have received was ________________ (BLANK). Not a single suggestion from those who opposed my displays.

I welcome all comments. Please send me an email (graphicedgeonline@gmail.com) and comment on your views and opinions on this subject matter. I also welcome you to freely contact me by phone at 423-773-4746. All merchandise and others will be available online at http://www.graphicedgeonline.com within 2 or 3 days from the airing of this news broadcast.

'Nobama' salesman sues Mall at Johnson City over eviction

November 10th, 2009 The Johnson City Press is reporting Dan Fuchs has filed a complaint against the Mall at Johnson City and Glimcher Realty Trust, the Ohio-based company which owns the mall, and is seeking damages for lost profits and emotional stress he says was caused when the mall terminated its lease with him. An amended complaint was filed Thursday afternoon in Chancery Court.

Fuchs was the owner of the Graphic Edge kiosk in the mall, a business that printed pictures and slogans on items such as cups, bumper stickers and shirts. On display at the kiosk were items critical of President Barack Obama and members of Congress. Items for sale contained slogans such as "I'll keep my guns, freedom and money ... you can keep the 'change,'" "That Obama sticker on your car might as well say, 'Yes, I'm stupid,'" and "Go Green, Recycle Congress."

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Retailers Warned Against Selling Single Cigarettes

AP September 25, 2009: Tennessee bureaucrats are threatening to fine about 25 tobacco sellers up to $1000 for selling "loosies" or single cigarettes removed from packs. At 25 cents each that could encourage people to smoke and that's a no-no with the political correctness police. Other great programs operated by the often broke state of Tennessee is threatening citizens with prison time and flogging for buying cigarettes in Virginia because of lower tobacco taxes there. Who says fascism is dead?

Government waste in Tri-Cities

More Chaos in the Job Market for Tri-Cities

Alcoa Slams the Doors in Lebanon, VA, Cans last 76 Workers. 2010 was supposed to be great year for Alcoa in Lebanon, but the troubled manufacturer has called it quits. Years of broken promises and never producing the jobs promised have left the public holding the bag again. Alcoa has received a lot of corporate welfare proving again why these funds are wasted. In fact the efforts of government economic development are so dismal one official finally came out and stated they will only pursue government jobs. Their efforts will be aimed at government jobs and government contractors, not private sector jobs. Today in the Coalfield Counties of Southwest Virginia as much as one-third of the workforce is employed by government. The private sector consists of poverty wage service jobs related to the often subsidized tourism/retirement industries. In fact one Bristol, Virginia leader claimed welfare benefits the region because it brings in income.

Alcoa blames the "market" for its problems and they are right. But they also should never have located in Lebanon to begin with. While not pointing a finger in particular at Alcoa, many companies locate here to simply pay below market wages and cash in on generous government subsidies. This is made even worse because government hacks trying to justify their huge paychecks (the only real jobs they create are their own) cut deals with almost anybody on the worse possible terms. There are no standards for success nor are there any enforcement mechanisms when the deal goes bad. As state Senator Terry Kilgore told me they were supposed to adopt an enforcement mechanism in 2008. He is on the infamous Virginia Tobacco Commission that instead of serving average residents has been reduced to a political slush fund for their friends. Posted November 1, 2009.

Government waste in Tri-Cities

The so-called Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission just awarded another $25 million for 20 projects across Southwest Virginia. Executive Director Neal Noyes claims, "We see this as a game changer." But that was claimed in the previous eight years when they porked-out about $750 million in grants that have so far produced nothing. They had a unanimous vote at their meeting in Wytheville October 29.

This latest round of pork includes another $3.5 million for Bristol Virginia Utilities to overbuild more private sector fiber-optic lines. These have been already available for years and have produced mainly call centers that come and go like clockwork. This foray of a public utility into the private-sector telecom industry has yet to produce a single verifiable job and has left BVU customers straddled with $49 million in debt. This was even after $10-$15 million in economic development grants they have already spent. They also got $5.5 million in 2008.

The Bristol-based Birthplace of Country Music Alliance received $250,000 to fix up an old garage as a museum. Other recommended pork projects as of September:

#1874 Town of Pennington Gap Lee Theater / Learning Center Renovation $232,815
#1911 Southwest Virginia Community Foundation, Inc. Clinch Mountain Performing Arts Center $500,000
#1890 Wise County IDA Wise Inn Restoration and Redevelopment $250,000

The total cost of the useless Wise Inn project:

Total project cost is $ 8,100,000. Other funds include: $700,000 - DHCD for renovations and construction (letter of intent received); $277,574 - Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for renovations and construction (awarded); $1,180,000 - Wise County IDA for acquisition and parking structure construction (approved and available as needed); $250,000 - Town of Wise for renovation and construction (committed and available as needed); $1,200,000 - VA Coalfield EDA for renovation and construction (approved); $3,392,426 - first mortgage debt and historic tax credits for renovation and construction (to be arranged).

Government waste in Tri-Cities

Typical is this:

IDA of Dickenson County Dickenson Center for Education and Research (#1878) $125,000 requested Funds are requested to build out unfinished space of approximately 2,800 square feet in the Dickenson Center for Education and Research. The space is partially complete from previous construction and lacks finished drywall, painting, ceiling, electrical, plumbing, etc. to become training space to serve the needs of local employers. There is a need for space to house groups of 40 or more and the Center does not currently have finished space to accommodate these requests. There are no matching funds in this phase of work, but substantial matching funds in previous construction phases that enabled the Center to open in the past year. The Center's staff has been tracking the use of existing smaller classrooms and demand for a larger meeting space. This improvement would provide a multi-function location for training large numbers of employees from private employers located in or near the County Technology park, such as EQT Corp (natural gas), coal mining companies and the SI call center, as well as regional public employers including the school system and prisons.

Let's note the 100 jobs they "created" at this S.I. (a government contractor) call center has already cost taxpayers $10 million at a cost of $100,000 per job. Why are they providing more corporate welfare to existing energy companies when the idea of these grants was to find alternative employment to these very industries? They make millions and still get corporate welfare?

Total project cost is $7,615,830. Other funds include: $200,000 - USDA Rural Development for the industrial room construction (completed); $25,000 - USDA Community Facilities Grant to purchase furnishings (ongoing) ; $85,000 - Congressional Directed Grant to purchase technology equipment (awarded); $1,100,000 - Dickenson County Local Government for building and land grant match (completed); $96,000 - Appalachian Regional Commission to purchase technology equipment (completed); $4,000,000 - Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority for construction and furnishings (completed); $200,000 - TICRC for construction and furnishings (completed).

September 29, 2009 Bosch Braking System will can 140 at its Johnson City facility by summer 2010. This was no surprise according to local reports. This is just another in an endless stream of losses in manufacturing that have ripped the region.

Saturn's closing will have a profound ripple effect across the state of Tennessee. Saturn is headquartered in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Starting as a separate company 19 years ago, its 3000 employees losing their jobs will devastate the community about 35 miles south of Nashville. The lost of business to suppliers will be equally devastating.

GM sold less than 200,000 for 2008. Besides dumping the Saturn brand GM is ending its Pontiac, Saab and Hummer lines. GM put three facilities including the Spring Hill plant on standby, closed a dozen others, and will close about 2000 dealerships. According to some reports 350 Saturn dealerships will close and 13,000 jobs will be lost.

Existing Saturns will be serviced I assume by surviving dealers such as "Wild" Bill Gatton Acura Mazda Saturn 2909 North Roan Street, Johnson City, the region's largest dealer. They also have a large dealership on the Volunteer Parkway, Bristol Tennessee next to the new Wal-Mart. His commercials in the past have included silly cowboy hats, live pigs, and other Hillbilly nonsense. Mr. Gatton is no hick, but a sharp and successful businessman.

It isn't just auto industry job losses hammering Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Tri-Cities. Traco (www.traco.com) in Johnson City is slamming the doors. Back in May local economic developers finally thought they had one when Traco hired 70 employees after slamming the doors in Georgia. They have been in Johnson City for ten years and the Johnson City Press reports they will fire 200 workers.

So where has "NETWORKS" been while all of this has been going on? Boss Richard Venable, once head of the Sullivan County Commission, claims to have another fix just down the road so be patient. Boss Venable it will be recalled along with other local politicians were operating a religious crusade out of public office to avoid dealing with the thousands of job losses occurring at Eastman Chemical and other manufacturers in 2000. This was when Sullivan County put emergency services on alert for the "rapture" they believed was going to happen with Y2K. Even Randy Weaver who got his wife and son killed at Ruby Ridge by the Feds rolled into Sullivan County claiming the end was near. The thousands of citizens vanishing into thin air or the UN takeover of America to fail to occur.

"NETWORKS" is another pseudo-government entity funded by Sullivan County, Bluff City, Bristol, Tenn., and Kingsport taxpayers. Venable said earlier in the year all the job losses were "right sizing" and would make Sullivan County more competitive in local television. He sees this as a good thing it seems. Boss Venable now claims (BHC September 25, 2009) some "start-up manufacturing company" is interested in locating here. He has been overseeing "right sizing" for years.

I guess it's going to be another Traco that comes and gets the corporate welfare then pulls out. Ten years from now government hacks will claim they created 70 new jobs at Traco, not that they lost 200 instead. This is why the actual number of real jobs seldom increases here at all. In the case of the new company he refuses to say who it is. I guess it's to protect this company when it shafts its workers and relocates. The only real jobs they seem to create are there own.

BVU symbol

Bristol Virginia Utilities to get more Dollars for "Redundancy"

BVU could be getting another $3 million dollars from the Virginia Tobacco Commission. The hope to construct a 49-mile expansion at a total cost of $3.9 million. Most of the lines will be run in Washington and Smith Counties. This is also being used to install a backup system for "redundancy" of data for customers. To quote Stacy Bright BVU executive vice president and chief financial officer, "This would allow us to provide redundant [fiber-optic] routes for all our customers, but especially Northrop Grumman and CGI-AMS. This would assure them of no down time and - in a data-driven world - without a backup they don't work."

Now I've met Stacy and she is fine person, but Northrop Grumman and CGI-AMS, located in Russell County not because of BVU. Northrop Grumman and CGI-AMS located in Russell County because the lucrative state contract they managed to get from the State of Virginia required them to. In fact after spending perhaps $100 million on fiber optic in Southwest Virginia BVU has failed to produce a single private sector job they can document. See Cable Ready Socialism Main Page. Ref. BHC September 29, 2009

As a final note announced October 1 electric rates might be coming down for Bristol BVU customers because of a rate drop at TVA. This drop in TVA's fuel surcharge (due to higher rainfall of over 3 inches above average) will offset an average 8 percent increase in its base electric rates. A residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity a month, the base rate change represents a $5.52 average increase. The fuel cost equals about $7.36 in savings, resulting in an average net savings of about $1.84 a month, according to TVA. Damn, I can but a 2-liter soda with that! The cost of 1,000 kilowatt-hours is $80.49.

As for Southwest Virginia customers of Appalachian Power, you just lost out. The Virginia State Corporation Commission in August allowed 7.7 percent increase in fuel adjustment costs. For 1,000 kilowatt-hours one can expect to pay about $7.16 more a month under the new rate. AEP is a private company while TVA is government owned and has far more hydropower generation than Appalachian Power. AEP is seeking another 14.5 percent increase due to environmental regulations that will add another $15 per 1000 kilowatt hours.

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Mountain States Health Alliance closing Indian Path Pavilion in Kingsport

July 3, 2009 Mountain States Health Alliance is closing Indian Path Pavilion, a 67-bed psychiatric unit over the next couple of months, and consolidating its mental health services at 75-bed Woodridge Hospital in Johnson City. MSHA's board of directors approved the move, which will eliminate 114 jobs...those employees include psychiatric nurses and master's prepared clinicians. Their Johnson City facility is also under-utilized. (An internal) study confirmed that one consequence of recent budget cuts has been a hit to mental health services. Fleming called that area of health care a "regular target" in tough economic times, and that has prompted the slowdown in patient volume...

Extract Johnson City Press. At Congressman Rick Boucher's recent Town Hall on healthcare reform, hospital officials such as those from MSHA said publicly the drug and alcohol abuse in this area was "terrible." Indian Path Pavilion also served Virginia residents.

Stop the ACLU

Gate City Students take on the ACLU

Religion has always been fun in Tri-Cities and there has been a number of protest against the often anti-Christian bullying of the Virginia ACLU, an organization that has promoted the distribution of child pornography. Their former President Charles Rust-Tierney is serving eight years for possession of child porn, some of which depicted the torture and rape of little girls. The ACLU has also supported groups such as the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) that advocates sexual relations between adults and little boys. They believe Jesus is the real threat to kids, not their own dogmatic humanism and support of sexual perverts.

The latest fight takes place in Gate City, Virginia in Scott County outside Kingsport. At a recent high school ball game a student (unapproved by the school) said a prayer over the loudspeaker at the game. The ACLU mailed a letter to Gate City High School Principal Greg Ervin. Their Legal Director Rebecca Glenberg claimed a concerned parent contacted them.

As part of her letter, Glenberg alerted Gate City High School that prayers before football games are unconstitutional. To quote the press, "It is my understanding that at a recent game, prior to the National Anthem, a student came over the public address system and said she was a member of the 'Fellowship of Christian Athletes,'" Glenberg wrote in her letter. "After a moment of silence to honor a deceased football player (to which we have no objection), the student delivered a prayer which concluded, 'In Jesus' name, Amen.'" I guess it wasn't a lesbian organization that I'm sure Glenberg and the ACLU would cheer for.

As Glenberg went on, "These kinds of opening prayers at football games have been specifically held by the Supreme Court to violate the First Amendment. Even under these circumstances, the prayer bore the mark of school sponsorship, so it really shouldn't have happened." What about the ACLU sponsoring child porn and child sex?

Say no to the ACLU

Students Send the ACLU a Message

Gate City High School is hoping to send a message to let the American Civil Liberties Union know that they can't make them stop praying. "This Friday (October 2) at the homecoming football game, students, and whomever wants to join, will be saying a prayer," said Lindsey Burke, a senior and member of the volleyball team at Gate City. "We are also planning to wear the T-shirts at the game. By doing this we are hoping to prove a point ... that no one can stop Christians from praying." Burke and several hundred others plan on wearing black T-shirts that sport the school's initials and a cross with the phrase "I still pray..." written on the front and "in Jesus' name" on the back.

As the Times-News continues, "As a result of the ACLU's actions, nearly 700 of the $8 shirts were given out at the Crossroads Community Center Wednesday afternoon, with another order approaching 400 on the way soon. The idea to hold some kind of civil protest was thought up by students over the past few weeks both in and out of class and on Internet message boards." September 30th, 2009 Kingsport Times-News extracts. Visit the Gate City High School website.

Who is mostly behind the ACLU, ADL, etc.? To quote Burt Prelutsky, It is the ACLU, which is overwhelmingly Jewish in terms of membership and funding, that is leading the attack against Christianity in America...the ACLU is highly selective when it comes to religious intolerance. The same group of self-righteous shysters who, at the drop of a "Merry Christmas" will slap you with an injunction, will fight for the right of an American Indian to ingest peyote and a devout Islamic woman to be veiled on her driver's license...I should point out that many of these people abhor Judaism every bit as much as they do Christianity. They're the ones who behave as if atheism were a calling. They're the nutcakes who go berserk if anyone even says, "In God we trust" or mentions that the Declaration of Independence refers to a Creator with a capital "C."

The ACLU Backs Down, Sort Of

Text of second ACLU letter to Gate City High's principal October 1st, 2009:

Greg Ervin, Principal
Gate City High School
178 Harry Fry Drive
Gate City, VA 24251

RE: Right of Students to Protest ACLU at Gate City High School Football Games
Dear Principal Ervin,

On September 15, at the behest of a parent of a Gate City High School student, the ACLU of Virginia wrote you to express our concerns about a sectarian prayer delivered over the public address system at the beginning of a football game. We pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that such prayers carry the impermissible imprimatur of the government, are coercive, and therefore violate the Establishment Clause.

You responded that the sectarian prayer, which was delivered by a student, was not planned and that it was not a regular occurrence at Gate City High School games. We were satisfied with that answer and conveyed it to the parent who had contacted us.

Today, I write about a related matter that has come to our attention. According to news reports, some Gate City High School students, on their own time and at their own expense, have organized a protest of the ACLU to take place at tomorrow evening's football game. Apparently more than one 1,000 t-shirts -- each displaying the school's initials, a cross and "I still pray..." on the front, and "in Jesus' name" on the back -- have been distributed to students, who will wear them to the football game.

I would like to remind you that school officials must respect the First Amendment right of students to engage in this protest. The Supreme Court has held that students, even during instructional hours, are entitled to free expression so long as the expression does not materially disrupt the educational process. It is hard to imagine that students gathering at a football game to voice their opinion of the ACLU and their desire to express their religious beliefs would disrupt something as raucous as a high school football game.

Based on the information we have at this time, you need not be concerned that part of the protest involves religious expression. The key question here, as with the prayers over the public address system, is whether the school itself is involved in the religious expression. In the case involving prayer over the public address system, the Supreme Court held that a formal prayer delivered in such a way imparts a message of school-sponsorship, even if planned and delivered by a student, and that it coerces participation in a religious exercise by those in attendance. As in many of its rulings involving the Establishment Clause, the Supreme Court recognized that the greatest danger to religious freedom emerges when the government uses its authority to promote or hinder a particular faith.

On the other hand, a student-organized, student-led protest at an extra-curricular activity that does not make use of the podium or public address system and that is neither promoted nor endorsed by the school is protected expression, whether or not religious activity is involved.

None of the above prevents the school from enforcing content-neutral rules of conduct for students attending school-sponsored events, so long as the rules are reasonable and they are applied equally to everyone, whether or not the student is a protestor.

I thank you for your attention to this matter, and I trust that the constitutional rights of all will be protected at the football game tomorrow night.

Please feel free to contact me at 804/644-8022.
Sincerely, Kent Willis
Executive Director

Great going kids! I'm still waiting to find out when the ACLU will stop promoting kiddie porn.

Equal Time for Christians

NASHVILLE, Tenn. May 15, 2008 (AP) - A proposal that would allow the state Department of Education to develop a curriculum for the academic study of the Bible in public schools is on its way to the governor's desk...

Ten years ago I would have been on the side of banning the Bible, but here is my view printed in the Bristol Herald Courier June 4, 2008. My views are keep all religion out of schools, politics and religion out of science.

Re: Teaching the Bible in Public Schools. As one who openly opposed hanging the Ten Commandments in the Sullivan County Courthouse, and who has written openly against Christian theology in the Herald Courier, I say yes, teach the Bible in school. Shocked? Here's why:

First, many schools are teaching a whitewashed introduction to Islam, a violent religion far worse than anything today outside Marxism is. Christians don't practice violence, outside an occasional lone individual. Islam openly teaches violence against non-believers.

Second, school material in general is highly anti-Christian, with underlying tones of Marxism, liberation theology, and Humanism. If they want to promote these pseudo-religions, it's only fair Christians get an equal hearing.

Third, so-called "environmentalism" is another pseudo-religion, an irrational, pagan earth-worship that holds Nature as somehow divine and is equal to man, a theological view. This pantheist/New Age nonsense too holds many anti-Christian undertones and its followers are often just religious fanatics that misuse science to promote a political/religious agenda.

Finally, the misuse of evolution to undermine the Christian faith. I'm an evolutionist myself, but the evidence is clear there's no "natural" mechanism to explain the Creation of the universe. And I do mean Creation unless one can supply verifiable scientific proof the atheist view is correct. There is none. They need to teach the scientific method so one understands just what a "theory" really means in science. Darwin warned when intelligence was involved, natural selection was voided.

It is time schools get back to academics and away from politics, religion, and social engineering. But if they want to keep promoting anti-Christian and often anti-Western themes, then I must stand with Christians and demand they get equal treatment.

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Propaganda In Science Class

By Letters To The Editor June 7, 2008

I agree with Lewis Loflin ["Equal time for Christians," June 4] that our schools are full of anti-Christian propaganda. One of the biggest offenders is in the area of science. I have been doing some serious research on the subject of evolution vs. creation. If you talk to the very scientists who have been trying to duplicate the processes involved in the spontaneous creation of life as theorized by Darwin, they have failed to do so. Any other theories that have been put out there have been disproved or laughed off the table. Dr. Walter L. Bradley has a doctorate in material science and is an expert on polymers and thermodynamics, both of which are critically important in the life origin debate. He has done extensive research and has come up with an interesting analogy. What if you have a printer that just started printing on its own, randomly printing letters? What are the chances that it would produce a written language that tells a story? That’s like finding one particular grain of sand in the Sahara Desert.

The DNA inside a single cell is purely and simply written information. We use a 26-letter alphabet in English. In DNA, there is a four-letter chemical alphabet whose letters combine in various sequences to form words, sentences and paragraphs. These comprise all the instructions needed to guide the functioning of a cell. It works just the way alphabetical letter sequences do in our language. Now when we see written language, we can infer based on our experience that it has an intelligent cause, so we can legitimately, using analogical reasoning, conclude that the remarkable information sequences in DNA had an intelligent cause.

This means life on Earth came from a "who" instead of a "what." The scientific community has admitted that the theory of evolution does not make sense, yet we continue to teach it as fact to our school children. I think it is time for the education system to update its curriculum to reflect these findings.

Deborah Foran Bluff City, Tenn.

Joy A. Smith-Briggs

My response to a New Age Mystic

Who Else Will Be Responsible For Earth?

By Letters To The Editor July 1, 2009 Bristol Herald Courier

My righteous indignation reared its head when I read a recent letter from Lewis Loflin concerning the "followers of the watermelon cult." Mr Loflin claims that "The earth is not holy, divine, sacred, etc." as he rails against the "pantheistic New Age nonsense" advanced by those of us who can clearly see and acknowledge global warming.

Perhaps we are reading from different Bibles, but mine states that "the earth is the Lord's...the sea is his and he made it, and his hands prepared the dry land." That clearly makes it holy, divine and sacred to me. If we don't assume responsibility for stewardship of the Earth, who will?

Joy A. Smith-Briggs Bristol, Tenn.

That is actually Psalms 24:1-2 and it says, "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." (NIV) In no manner does it say the world is God nor is it holy. If she was really a Christian (which I'm not either by the way) she would find the following:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and (his) divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened...They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator...Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them" (Romans 1:18-32)

In other words Joy worshipping rocks, trees, and dirt is idolatry. Injecting that religious view into politics and using it as public policy to promote your religion still violates separation of religion and state. I don't need deluded mystics such as you using government coercion to meddle in my affairs or telling me where the hell to set my thermostat. That you for sharing your view.

Exposing the (Eco-Socialist) Watermelon Cult
What New Age Religion?
Environmentalism is Religious in Nature

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

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Rick Boucher
9th District, Virginia
NINTHNET@mail.house.gov

http://www.house.gov/boucher/

September 28, 2009

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns regarding the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. I appreciate your taking the time to share your views with me. Contrary to the claims that some have made, passage of the legislation will not increase taxes or cause job losses. Electricity rates will be kept affordable, and the use of coal, our nation's most abundant energy resource, will continue to grow. I am pleased to have this opportunity to explain the process by which these results were achieved.

The choice is not between doing something and doing nothing. In 2007, the Supreme Court effectively required the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, the choice is between EPA regulation and Congress intervening with its own regulatory program. Virtually all interested parties, from industry to the environmental community, would prefer that Congress regulate because, unlike EPA, Congress can consider the economic effects of regulation. We can simply do a better job. In essence, we have no alternative but to pass legislation through the Congress regulating greenhouse gases and do so in an economically sustainable way.

Improperly drafted legislation could have had a major adverse effect on both our region's coal industry and electricity rates in our area. As a senior member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, I was determined to prevent these outcomes and to assure that the legislation which passed the House enabled growth in our region's coal industry and kept the overall cost of the program to a negligible level for the typical homeowner. We have achieved these goals.

To have a role in the legislation, I simply had to be a part of the process. If I had announced my intention to vote no, I would have had no ability to negotiate the dozens of changes in the original draft of the bill which were ultimately accepted and which earned for the legislation the support of a broad swath of American industry, including electric utilities and American Electric Power Co., which serves our region. Simply stepping aside and voting no would have been the politically easier course; however, it would have been irresponsible because I then would have had no opportunity to modify the legislation to prevent it doing serious economic harm. Unless I was going to be helpful in moving the legislation through the House, the Chairman of the Committee would have refused to enter into the extensive negotiations with me which resulted in major modifications of the bill.

Over two months of intensive negotiations, I was able to modify the original bill to assure that emission allowances are provided for free to electric utilities. By receiving free allowances and avoiding the cost of acquiring allowances at an auction, electric utilities can keep electricity rates affordable and can continue to use coal instead of having to shift to a fuel that has a lower CO2 content. Another of my changes provided the offsets which will enable electric utilities to achieve their required reductions in CO2 emissions by planting trees or investing in agriculture while continuing to use coal at the generating plant. The offsets enable CO2 emitters to meet their greenhouse gas reduction obligations while continuing to burn increasing amounts of coal. My amendments lowered the CO2 reduction targets and also facilitated the early introduction of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration technologies, which will assure the long-term life of the coal industry across our nation.

The official projection of the EPA is that because of the amendments I was able to add to the bill, coal use will grow by 2020 as compared to 2005 production figures, and the total cost of the program for the typical American home will be no more than 20 to 30 cents per day per family. That number is well less than the cost of a postage stamp daily.

While it was necessary to pass this measure in order to prevent an inevitable, poorly balanced regulation from the EPA, the legislation also contains major benefits for our region and the nation's economy. It promotes energy independence by broadly accelerating the move to all electric vehicles, which will be fueled by American coal instead of imported petroleum. With the certainty the law provides, a large amount of pent-up capital investment by electric utilities will be unleashed. Many utilities have been waiting for the rules on greenhouse gas reductions to be written before they make major capital investments. And over the longer term, as industry throughout the world seeks to deploy low carbon dioxide emitting technologies, those new technologies will be innovated in American laboratories, manufactured in our factories, deployed at home and exported throughout the world. Many economists predict that the passage of this bill will open the door to America's next technology boom. It will be in energy technology and will create millions of jobs.

I am already having discussions with a group of members of the United States Senate who will be deeply involved in the debate in that body about additional changes which could be made to the legislation to make it more economically acceptable. By being a key drafter of the bill in the House and supporting its movement through the legislative process, I was able to protect this region's interests, and I am assured of a seat at the table when the final bill is written in negotiations between House and Senate members.

I hope you find this information useful, and I would welcome your further comments and suggestions regarding this and other matters of importance to Southwest Virginians.

Thank you again for contacting me. With kind regards, I remain

Sincerely, Rick Boucher Member of Congress

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Boucher loses House panel chair, Virginia 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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Bristol Virginia

Bristol Virginia Borrows to Cover Bloated Spending

Tax collections, in particular meal taxes being off 6 percent has forced Bristol Virginia to borrow $1 million just to pay the bills. This comes after years of out of control spending, looting funds from the City utility, and "Voodoo booking" has left the City almost $120 million in debt. According to City Manager Bill Dennison, "Cash flow is the only reason. Revenues are down, but it's always tight this time of year." Other taxes are off 4 percent.

This is the same City government that went in on a speculative $2.5 million land deal with a private developer. He later defaulted on the agreement costing the City $2-$3 million in losses they never planned on. No Mr. Dennison it's not just cash flow. He went on to claim this "refinancing" is a common practice in Virginia and I guess that makes it alright.

This money is being borrowed at 5.75 percent interest and must be paid back in 12 months. They hope to do this with property taxes in December. Revenue began declining in January when the return from millions spent on pork-barrel tourism projects failed to perform as planned. According to the Herald Courier the final budget, approved 3-1 by the City Council, allows the city to borrow as much as $4 million for this purpose during the current fiscal year.

Not so fast says Councilman Guy Odum who cast the lone no-vote in the in the 3-1 decision. He says, "We should have done some creative things early in the year to deal with this" shortfall. And this is not over yet. We can continue to borrow more." Both he and Councilman Jim Heaney have been trying to clean up this corrupt City government but keep getting out-voted. To quote, "Since July, we've borrowed $2.7 million to keep the city operating. That's like $1.7 million to pay the mortgage and $1 million to buy groceries." They both voted against refinancing $1.6 million in long-term bond debt which keeps the city from paying a $1.1 million payment in 2009 and a $500,000 in 2010-11. They simply put the problem off and it keeps growing. Mr. Odum calls it borrowing, the City refinancing. What's the difference? Ref. BHC September 30, 2009

In a community with a per-capita income of $17,000 here are the shocking salaries of some top City officials:

  • Wes Rosenbalm BVU President/Chief Executive Officer $120,536.00
  • Bill Dennison City Manager $111,000.00
  • Stacey Bright BVU Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer $104,985.00
  • Robert Kelley OptiNet Vice President of Operations $99,329.00
  • Mark Lane Network Architect $97,854.00
  • Robert Snodgrass VP of Operations - Electric/Water/Sewer $93,418.00
  • Stacy Evans Network Engineer $86,888.00
  • Jerry Brown Economic Development Director $85,437.00
  • William Price Police Chief $78,024.00
  • Luther Minor Clear Creek Golf Club Manager $76,839.00
  • Bob Childress Parks and Recreation Director $73,720.00

Bristol Virginia Schools

Stimulus Pork at Bristol Virginia Schools

Ina Danko, is the superintendent of the Bristol Virginia school system. Bristol Virginia was ranked as one of the worst systems in the state according to the Roanoke Times (www.roanoke.com) December 17, 2006. She was Virginia High principal until she retired to head the City school system with a whopping salary of over $90,000. Virginia High was about the worst school in the whole state.

During the 2002-03 school year, 24 percent of Virginia High's 225 freshmen failed, one of the highest rates in Southwest Virginia. The year before that, 24 percent of the high school's 211 freshmen were retained. The press blamed it on not being accepted, etc. To quote student, "I went to high school, and it seemed like everything got worse. If you don't fit in, you're not accepted. If they don't like the way you look, they tell you that you need to go change your clothes. I wouldn't go because of all the kids." It sounds like a discipline problem to me. Perhaps they should mandate uniforms and strict dress codes. Ref. BHC Aug 15, 2004.

That school is near the Bristol Virginia public housing with its large number of black residents, violent crimes, and drugs. In fact controversy arose when black students were shown to be under performing white students even in the same classes and being treated the same as white students. It's perhaps unfair to blame Mrs. Danko for problems she didn't cause and can't fix. See Race behind School Score Declines about the controversy when the No Child Left Behind scores came out in Bristol, Virginia.

According to Mrs. Danko they cut over $1 million from the budget earlier and the stimulus pork is welcome, but doesn't make up for all of the cuts. They plan to use the money for tutors, literacy coaches, cafeteria equipment, some fencing, computers and software, and retaining employees. Other than some temp work by a local fence company, it will simply retains mainly government jobs and produces nothing for long-term private sector jobs.

To quote the Herald Courier,

"The school system provided the names and winning bids for four contractors, totaling a shade under $50,000: Area Radon Services and Rio Grande Fence Co., both in Johnson City, Tenn.; American Steel and Iron in Bristol, Va.; and Johnson Fence Co. in Bristol, Tenn. "I hope the stimulus money trickles down to us a lot more," said Alan Johnson, of Johnson Fence Co., which also has won stimulus-funded contracts for Russell County schools.

Johnson said his business is "not that bad, but not good, like it used to be." His work force consists of his wife, two sons and six full-time employees who install fences. He hasn't considered hiring additional workers, nor has he had to lay off any..."


And there we have it. We are creating no new jobs, just holding on to a few present jobs, mostly government, as long as the pork keeps coming. The danger is what happens when it ends? In fact according to press reports the stimulus money is simply filling in the gaps where the State of Virginia has cut funds and filled it in with federal money. Ref. BHC September 27, 2009

Virginia High School

On May 14, 2007 in the Bristol Herald Courier,

Bristol, Va. and Tenn. school officials said graduation rates released by an independent research group are probably wrong. Last week, school officials from both Bristols reviewed graduation numbers from a report released by Maryland-based Editorial Projects in Education, which reported Tennessee High had a 63.2 percent graduate rate and Virginia High School posted 52.1 percent rate.

"That seems very, very low," Bristol Virginia Superintendent Doug Arnold told the Bristol Herald-Courier. "And in reality, I suspect it is." EPE, a non-profit research organization that publishes Education Week magazine, released the report that shows graduation rates for every public high school across the nation. It also shows high school enrollment, number of teachers, student-teacher ratios.

While Bristol, Virginia claims this is low, I suspect it and others are too high. I've examined the data myself and it's a mess. The The New York Times (March 20, 2008) in an article titled States' Data Obscure How Few Finish High School shows the data in most states is inflated. For more on this visit www.silentepidemic.org. Virginia High is also on the bottom in the Tri-Cities region. Here are some of the other area schools 2006 graduation rates according to the group's report:

Sullivan County schools - 63.7
Washington County, Tenn. - 71.1
Washington Co. Va. - 84.6
Kingsport - 69.9
Johnson City - 76.2
Wise Va - 73.2
Scott Co. Va. - 73.7

Visit the Virginia High School website. To quote the Bristol Herald Courier May 12, 2008,

New Virginia High principal targets graduation rates Martin Ringstaff, principal of Dan River High School near Danville, Va., was selected Monday as the next principal of Virginia High School...Among his goals, Ringstaff said he wants to examine Virginia High's rates for dropouts, attendance and graduation. "I think the graduation rate needs some attention. We need to see what's going on there," Ringstaff said...

I wish him well. Also see The Obama "Change" Show Comes to Virginia High in Bristol, VA



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Shell Game in Wythe County

"Though they receive a fraction of the statewide total, localities in the region claim some of the highest stimulus spending per person, ranging from $398 a head in Wythe County to $130 in Russell County. The impact of those funds, however, is more elusive."
If we are wondering why the billions in stimulus pork dollars are producing nothing we can visit Wythe County, Virginia. Wythe County has been most saturated with stimulus pork dollars at nearly $11.5 million. According to the Bristol herald Courier they rank 6th out of 95 counties in Virginia. Nearby Abingdon, one of the wealthiest communities in the state got only a fraction ($379,000) of the stimulus pork. According to them (9/7/2009) it's a shell game:

Wythe County Administrator Cellell Dalton downplayed the impact of the stimulus funds. "It's just a two-year stopgap measure to help states out," Dalton said of the money his county has received from the state. "In my opinion, the state has taken federal dollars and used those to supplant the revenues they should have paid" to cities, towns and counties, he said. "The state is making localities pick up the shortfall."

To date, Wythe County has received a $71,000 grant for the county's Sheriff's Office, a $6.5 million grant for highways and bridges, a $1.4 million grant for a sewer pump, and $3.3 million in education funds. But the way Dalton looks it at, the state has played a sleight-of-hand game, swapping federal funds with their strict conditions in place of the money it would normally send to localities.

In fact, Dalton said, he's short this year. "I think it's not even status quo," he said of funding from the state. "I think the only stimulus money we've received is for the sewer project itself."

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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