Beforte I start---no, I haven't seen it, of course, but I have read several sparkling reviews of it. Sounds wonderful (yawn). So our former Man-Who-Would-Be President has a new movie. Ever determined to save the planet from the evils and excesses of Humankind, Al Gore and his coterie of scientist-like whackos and Environmentalists have enlisted the willing co-conspirators in Whacko Hollywood to aid them in their battle. "An Inconvenient Truth" is a feature documentary film starring Al G...
Mexican Myth or Texas Terror? by Holly Fenner Is a local Texas television station desperate for ratings or is there something behind the legend of the Chupacabra? A recent home video of an unidentified animal has Texas residents again pointing fingers at the famed Mexican blood sucker. This isn't the first or even second time this suspected "blood-sucking thing from beyond" has claimed fame in the Lonestar State. WOAI Channel 4 first broadcast the discovery of the Texas Chupacabra in J...
Larry Denham. Now, that’s a name that means a whole lot me, personally. I wouldn’t have been here without it, after all. He, however, would still be here if not for the cancer that festered in the two to three packs of cigarettes he smoked every day and hung concentrated in the air of the bars he regularly frequented for decades, then spread to his lungs and beyond, and eventually killed him. On April 17th, my family will note the fourth year since the passing of my dad. It’s become...
I work a second job, three nights a week, running a cash register at a Dollar General. Just making some extra cash. A woman came in the other night and purchased a lot of foodstuffs; cereal, canned veggies and fruit, lunch snacks, stuff like that. She paid with a Food Stamp Debit Card. No problem. As I finished up, however, bagging her items and handing her the receipt, she looked to her right and noticed a display we have on the counter. "Oooo! Pez dispensers!" she said, excited. "I love...
Larry Denham. Now, that’s a name that means a whole lot me, personally. I wouldn’t have been here without it, after all. He, however, would still be here if not for the cancer that festered in the two to three packs of cigarettes he smoked every day and hung concentrated in the air of the bars he regularly frequented for decades, then spread to his lungs and beyond, and eventually killed him. On April 17th, my family will note the fourth year since the passing of my dad. It’s become...
Weirton, WV, the home of the first Wal-Mart in this area, is supposed to be coming into its own, Wal-Mart wise, with the (rumored) construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the grounds of the old Weirton Steel Corp. General Offices (or the G.O., as it's called here) out on Three Springs Drive. Why we need another WM Supercenter is beyond me. Weirton already has the one Wal-Mart and, right across the river in Steubenville, OH is a large Supercenter, just about three or four years old. Oh, wel...
I’m not sure I’m going to be able to convey this properly, but here goes: From the time we’re little kids, we hear how everyone is different. We’re none of us, no two, completely alike; we’re all unique in some way. Even identical twins. Some are similar, yes. In views, personality and temperament, which is how we form friendships, but we’re all different. Our backgrounds are what "form" us, I suppose you could say; our genetic makeup, our upbringing, environment, whatever. That’s wha...
Maybe a month ago now, I posted an article asking for opinions on my writing abilty. It was titled "Can I write"; a post in which I requested JUer opinions on my abilities, and indicated my desire to, possibly, begin work on a novel. The article recieved little traffic, save comments from Little Whip and Dr. Guy. Both of them seemingly found at least minimal favor with my skills, and since no one else showed up to shoot me down, I have decided to proceed. It's a sci-fi story I have b...
"From What's New Wal-Mart" on wmconnect: Grandpa Munster's Deathbed Secret When Al Lewis, who will forever be known as Grandpa for his role on the '60s sitcom "The Munsters," died last week, one of the many tall tales he told on himself was finally set straight. In a business that idolizes youth, Lewis did something very unusual. He lied about his age--but he told people he was far older than the date on his birth certificate. Virtually all of Lewis's obituaries reported that he...
Okay folks, I'm putting my fate, or at least a portion of it, in your hands. I'm thinking of trying my hand at writing a novel. Problem is, I'm not so sure of my talents in that particular arena. So, I'm asking for opinions....from all of you. Can I write? I'm talking about my ability to convey my thoughts on the page.....to assembled words into coherent sentences. I'm not talking about the content you may have read here on JU. I've posted a few stories on a favorite website. T...
Back in January, when the Pittsburgh Steelers slid barely under the wire into the playoffs, it was looking like there might yet be a chance at greatness. 'Burgh radio station WDVE ran a promotion asking listeners for Steelers' "fight songs", to bolster the team. They said they'd play anything they got, as long as it was positive and appropriate. The public responded in droves. Hundreds of amateur-produced CDs and tapes came in, some good, most pretty lame, but all supporting the team in thei...
"Quinn and Rose in the Morning", a Pittsburgh-based rightwing talk radio show, played a shameful recording made in the Steeler's locker room in Denver after that game, the AFC Championship. The sound came from a video of the event, which was described by Rose, who found it "sweet and refreshing". As if! The general rowdiness and joyful laughter of the victorious Steelers was quickly and viciously stifled as Head Coach Bill "The Chin Man" Cowher came in and yelled, "Okay, over here! Hats o...
I came across this in a magazine at work. A study conducted in 2002, and published in the American Journal of Sociology, found that: "A racially diverse student body in US high schools does not automatically lead to interracial friendships(duh). Researchers found that teens tended to choose same-race friends, even as chances to choose friends from different races increased. The study suggested that schools interested in promoting substantive racial integration should encourage activiti...
A couple weeks ago, my wife’s cousin stopped for gas at a station just up the street from his house. He got out, pumped his gas, then walked toward the building to pay. As he crossed the lot, a rather sizable group of young blacks (somewhere between 30-40, according to eyewitnesses and police reports) both men and women hanging out at the station, took note of him and loudly started asking "what Whitey was doing in their neck of the woods", and insulting him. He ignored them, paid and walke...
I have sincerely enjoyed Tex W’s thread (see link) on her recent discovery that she is a sci-fi fan, and is "embracing the inner dork". I welcome her with hailing frequencies open. As I related, on her thread, I have been a fan of the Trek universe for many a year, dating back to the 70s. Jumping off the school bus, running into the house, grabbing a fistful of Oreos and a glass of milk, and settling down for an hour of star-flecked bliss before homework. My friends and I would often congr...