Stevie Joe Has More For You About Katrina

"Katrina's Hidden Race War" as published in The Nation.

Reading is fundamental,
Stevie Joe Parker

More from Stevie Joe on Racism

Another useful eight minutes or so:

Feelin' a bit down about some folks,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Looks at Racism in 21st Century America

And here I thought that David Duke was hiding under a rock somewhere.  This is a well-done report.  It's worth the 8-1/2 minutes (trust me).

Yikes!

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's Sustainable Christmas

So, old Stevie Joe has been pondering his options for this year's round of Christmas shopping.  What with the economy being in the crapper and all, I'm trying to be careful with my selections.  I've been thinking about how to make our economy more sustainable since it seems that this whole notion of buying and using more and more stuff ain't gonna last for long.  I mean, how long can we keep shipping bottled water halfway around the world?

During my in-depth research on the matter, I came across a little project that the folks at Patagonia clothing are doing.  It entails examining the economic and environmental impacts of some of their products.  It turns out that the polyester shirt made in Thailand might use less electricity, create less waste, and be a better overall use of resources than an organic wool shirt made in the US (or something like that).  In any case, the answers aren't always as clear cut as we might imagine.

Patagonia has a big section on their website devoted to this project.  They call it The Footprint Chronicles.  There are detailed videos and slideshows illustrating each step of a given item's manufacture.  Trust old Stevie Joe when he tells you that you can spend a great deal of time looking at all this stuff.  Maybe the price you pay for their merchandise is worth it after all.

Sustain is not just a sign of a good guitar,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and Holiday Music

CNN just ran a story about the best and worst holiday music. Personally, Stevie Joe is not a big fan of holiday music. It seems that every year a whole new bunch of pop artists feel compelled to record their versions of old holiday tunes. If the old songs are so hot, why don't we just listen to those instead of new versions?

Anyway, this story ran on for nearly three minutes without a single mention of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."  How can you do a story about annoying holiday songs without mentioning that piece of crap?  That has got to be the numero uno annoying holiday song.  

Best holiday song?  "Run run Rudolph" (original Chuck Berry version).

Ho ho ho,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Thinks Peace Is a Pretty Good Idea Most of the Time

Given our own recent mandate for change, it seems fitting to try to reduce the violence around the world a wee bit. Check out these folks with their own Roadmap for Peace.

Peace out,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Is Proud of his Fellow Hollerites

The election is upon us, and I've had some time to reflect on how the folks here in Junebug Holler have approached the whole deal. See, on a national level, things have been pretty ugly. Sometimes, it goes that way around here, too. When Junior goes and does something stupid like falling asleep drunk in the thorn bushes outside the fire station, we'll give him plenty of grief about it. But we all love him anyway.

When Sarah Palin spends $150K on clothes or John Edwards spends $400 on a haircut, we might laugh and joke. However, we don't let that affect how we are going to vote. Just like Junior in the sticker bushes, it's all irrelevant in the end. So, Dickie Jensen delights in referring to Barack Obama as "Toby," but we know that, as dumb as he is, Dickie is more thoughtful than that.

I'd like to think that it's my influence on the unwashed masses of Junebug Holler that has produced this effect, but that's not quite true. Underneath all the silliness and drama, we're good folk here. Some will vote Obama. Some will vote McCain. When it's all over, we'll get together over some coffee and Denver omelets and discuss it as friends.

Here's to a fine, peaceful election,
Stevie Joe Parker