Shoutout to a friend

I just finished reading an entertaining book by a friend of mine, Julian Martin. Julian, a native West Virginian unto the generations, has had an interesting life. He served in the Air Force, studied engineering at WVU, and was WV's first Peace Corps volunteer who wound up teaching for two years in Nigeria.

On returning, he taught for several years at Duvall High School in Lincoln County and has taken his lumps, sometimes literally, for social justice.

The book in question is Imagonna: Peace Corps Memories. More from Amazon here.

Imagonna, by the way, is a hillbilly term Julian's African students didn't understand. It means "I am going to..."

BAD IDEA. Here's why Senator Manchin should reconsider his health care reform delay idea.

FROM THE SAME FOLKS, food stamp or SNAP cuts scheduled for Nov. 1 will affect 48 million Americans and 350,000 West Virginians.

CHICKEN LITTLES are called out here by Krugman.

WEIRD CRITTERS TO LOOK AT here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Occupations

Since my last post here on the Occupy Wall Street movement, which isn't just for Wall Street any more, momentum seems to be building. I've gotten several emails from different groups announcing their solidarity with these efforts.

According to this CNN story, Big Apple unions are joining in the action. More on that from NPR here. It's still too soon to tell how long this will last, but this item, also from CNN, suggests it's far from over.

So far, I know of several events planned for WV cities and towns. One is set for Huntington tomorrow. Others will be held on Oct. 15 in Charleston, Wheeling, Morgantown and Martinsburg.

10 YEARS OUT. As the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan approaches, a new survey finds that many veterans of the post-9/11 era don't think the wars were worth the sacrifices involved.

LIVING FOSSILS (AND COOL PICTURES) here.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED