I Hate Haters of Hate Speech

The recent flap at NCSU over 'hate-speech' graffitti on the Freedom of Expression Wall is causing me to put on my bigot hat...again. And that's OK, I'm comfortable as a bigot. It's a lot less stressful than pretending to like or care about miserable people with fragile egos.

Sure, what the students wrote on the wall on election night is hate speech. But so is Jeremiah Wright's sermons for the past twenty years. If anyone hates, he does. I'm just as bothered over his 'Not God bless America - God damn America' remarks. The Reverend William Barber, the state's NAACP president, wants the students expelled from school and charged with hate crimes. What crime? Are our thoughts now illegal - whether they're spoken or written?

The only difference between the NAACP and the KKK is that the former wear suits, the latter wear sheets. The NAACP is led by hateful, past-dwelling ministers and the KKK is led by Democratic Senators and Congressmen. There is more racism today that there was in the 50's when I was growing up. The reason is that black 'leaders' keep their citizens focussed on the past and coming up with excuses for their failures; and the government wants to keep an entire segment of our citizens in poverty so they can stay in power.

A recent episode on TV focused on the difficulties that a trans-gender female-to-male had finding acceptance in his community. Why do we have to accept people simply because they are different from us? Does a parent in that (wo)man's community have to teach her kids that it's OK to hang out with someone who doesn't know who he/she is, simply because the law says we can't discrimiate against she/he?

Can any hate speech, non-discrimination, equal rights law override my feelings of discomfort and distrust when I have to sit beside a Koran-toting Middle Easterner on the airplane or ride the subway with a gang of Bloods or Crips in my car? At what point do I stop trusting my instincts and give anyone who has ever been victimized by someone else the right to blow me up, shoot me, stab me, rob me and threaten my family and my country?

Common sense and reason are fast becoming a thing of the past; as is our freedoms. The next generations are being brainwashed into believing wrong is right, good is bad, truth is irelevant and justice is only for the whiners and losers?
For examply, did you know that the dictionary has changed the definition of n****r? It used to be someone who was shiftless and lazy, mean and stingy. Now the word means: Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a. a black person.
b. a member of any dark-skinned people.

2. Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible, inferior, ignorant, etc.
3. a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised."

Excuses, excuses, excuses. I long for the day when people said what they meant, even if it meant a fist in the face for your remark. Today they want to destroy you for exercising your freedom of speech.

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Been married about two and a half weeks and still happily married!!

The Honeymoon In a Nutshell

Pam and I were married on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008. We spent the night at the Crystal Key B&B in Newman Grove, Nebraska. On Monday morning, we got up early, packed the car and met Bernice (I love this lady) at the bowling alley for breakfast. After breakfast, we went by Pam's house to clean it before leaving. The plumber came by to winterize the pipes while we wait for the house to sell.

I was sad as we drove out of Newman Grove. The people there are really special. They had done so much for us preparing for the wedding and wishing us well. I'll especially miss Bernice and Alta. As hard as it was for me, I can only imagine what leaving was like for Pam. Her family, everyone she knows and loves is in Nebraska.

Most of the day was spent driving to Hannibal, Missouri. We stayed downtown in an old brothel - the Lula Belle B&B, right next to the Mississippi River and a train track where every hour a train would pass and blow it's whistle outside our room. I'm sure they thought it was funny, but we were not amused. Our room was above a restaurant and boasted a heart-shaped jaccuzzi tub and a toilet separated from the bed by one narrow partition. We had to turn up the TV volume when we had to use the toilet - but we did have a good view of the train track from the window next to the toilet...and the tub was nice, if loud and powerful. It shot jets of water two feet higher than the tub.

On Tuesday morning we toured the town, climbing to the top of the hill Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer played on in Mark Twain's stories about the Mississippi River. We also visited Molly Brown's birthplace (closed). She was the feisty millionaire aboard the Titanic when it went down (played by Kathy Bates in one movie).

The weather was perfect our entire honeymoon. After leaving Hannibal, we drove south to St. Louis where we toured the St. Louis Arch and the museum under the arch, Gateway to the West. Around dusk we headed out of town and stopped at a Best Western - the nicest motel we stayed at on our trip. That night we talked and decided that it was too ambitious to try to include Memphis, TN in our trip. The next morning we woke up and ate breakfast at Crackle Barrel (for the second time), consulted our atlas, and chose a route southest towards Nashville. Little did we know it would take most of the day to get there.

We drove through Missouri and entered the lower part of Illinois in the town of Chester. Chester is known as the home town of Popeye the Sailor Man. It was a cute town. Being the home state of our new President-elect, we were surprised to see a lot of McCain/Palin signs in yards. A tiny building in downtown Chester was the local Republican headquarters...a sad place the day after the election.

From Chester we drove further into Illinois and came to Metropolis - home town to SuperMan. A giant steel replica of Superman stood at the back of the courthouse, so Pam and I paused for pictures and to visit the Superman museum/souvenir shop. After leaving Metropolis, we passed through Kentucky and made it just outside of Nashville after dark.

Thursday morning we visited the Opryland Hotel and Conference Center in Nashville. It was decorated for Christmas and looked beautiful. The place is huge! Opryland Hotel is the largest non-casino hotel in the world. We're going back to stay at the hotel at our first opportunity. Lunch was at Finney's Pub, an Irish pub inside the convention center. We also took the riverboat tour of the hotel and learned about the Presidential suite where Dolly Parton likes to plop down $3,500 a night to stay there.

We wanted to see the Grand Ole Opry auditorium and museum, but it was closed. So was the General Jackson paddlewheel boat. Just our luck. We got married at the wrong time...

We did visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rhyman Auditorium where the Grand Ole Opry got it's start. I wasn't too impressed with the Hall of Fame, but the Rhyman was great. We had our picture taken at the microphone where Minnie Pearl and Johnny Cash once stood. After touring the Rhyman, we had ice cream in a downtown Nashville store and walked past dozens of bars with loud bands and the occasional street performer.

We left Nashville around dusk and drove to Sevierville before stopping for the night at another Best Western. The following day we drove out to the Odom farm - original settlers in the Gatlinburg area. We spent most of the day walking up and down Gatlinburg streets, enjoying lunch at an Italian restaurant and fudge from one of the many fudge shops in town. We also visited two Thomas Kinkaid galleries. After that we drove back to Pigeon Forge and located Dollywood after driving around forever looking for it. Dollywood was closed - no surprise - but we drove around the ticket booth and followed the road to the front gate where employees were decorating the park for Christmas. Pam and I snuck in and took photos. It would be nice to go back and see the Christmas shows, including a 4D version of Polar Express.

Late Friday afternoon we drove up on the Gatlinburg bypass and took photos of Mt. Leconte rising above the town. Then we drove the scenic route from Gatlinburg to Cherokee. Clouds were low by the time we reached Newfound Gap and we drove down the back side of the mountains in a cold drizzle.

Cherokee was dead. We stopped at one of the cheezy souvenier shops and I wondered what my parents thought when they brought my brother and I there when we were kids. Cherokee is a fairly depressing tourist trap, surviving mostly on Harrah's casino on the east side of town.

We continued on Friday night to Maggie Valley. I had hoped to stay at the Heart of the Valley motel, but it was - you guessed it, closed. My dad had intended to buy the motel when I was about 10 years old, but someone got there first with a down payment. It was a dream of mine to grow up in the mountains, playing in the streams and exploring caves. Heart of the Valley was a cool place to have grown up. Instead we stayed at some place I forget and had dinner at Logan's Bar next door. The 12 oz ribeye steaks were good and they were only $9.99.

Saturday morning we rose early and headed to Asheville to visit the Biltmore. The place was already crowded and we had a timed entry into the house of 10:45, an hour wait. We took photos outside and then spent the next two hours tourning the house. It was just decorated for Christmas and there were probably about 30 Christmas trees scattered throughout the house. Down in the old kitchen area, the staff had built a cale model gingerbread Biltmore. The windows were opened, allowing the delicious smell of the gingerbread to filter throughout the basement. I've always liked the staff quarters and kitchen/laundry areas best.

We had lunch at the stables next to the mansion and later visited the winery for a wine tasting. Actually we stood in line for an hour, took one sip of wine from the first glass, and decided to leave. The line waiting outside the winery was probably three hours long by then. I'm conservatively estimating that the Biltmore took in over a million dollars last Saturday. The staff is very efficient, passing 180 visitors through the front doors every 15 minutes at $54 a pop for adults.

We left Asheville and headed east for home. It took us six days to cover the 1400 miles from Newman Grove, Nebraska to Creedmoor, NC. The weather was perfect, the country in between is beautiful, and now we're trying to settle two households into one home; making adjustments for my kids and for Pam's furniture due to arrive tomorrow.

I'll find a way to post more pictures online. You have to see to appreciate how wonderful our honeymoon was. Pray for us as we start our lives and build our dreams together. It's going to be a wonderful journey.

It's Official

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Our wedding cake! 11/2/2008

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Friends in Nebraska

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No rice...but plenty of leaves!

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Bed & Breakfast in Newman Grove, Nebraska
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The happy couple - appearing live on stage at Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN.