Hicks From the Sticks
Friday, May 18, 2012
Hicks From the Sticks Tennessee Town Celebrates Mark Twain's Conception
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 5:30 AM
You know, I know this has been a slow news week. And going out and interviewing the people of Jamestown, Tenn., about their great pride in being the place where Mark Twain was conceived is one way to fill time.
But I feel like this news report raises more questions than it answers. Is celebrating the literary-history-changing fuck completed by Mr. and Mrs. Clemens promoting gateway sexual activity? Can a town really claim a fetus? I mean, I roll my eyes when Indiana is all, "Abraham Lincoln lived here," as if it counts and Abraham Lincoln actually lived there.
And most of all, have the people of Jamestown actually read any Twain?
Friday, March 30, 2012
Hicks From the Sticks Stacey Campfield: Do as He Says, Not as He Does, Because He Doesn't Remember What He Does
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Stacey Campfield has taken to his blog to expound on the Trayvon Martin situation and to answer questions about whether we have a similar Stand Your Ground law.
I have goten a few questions on if Tennessee has a "Stand your ground" policy. As I recall I am pretty sure we do have it in Tennessee.
As Say Uncle points out, we do have such a law. Stacey Campfield, in fact, sponsored it. I guess it didn't make much of an impression.
You'd think that Campfield would have some sympathy for a dead kid. But apparently not.
I am sorry but people wearing pulled up hoodies do apear ominous and I don't care what color the person is. If I saw a person in A pulled up hoodie (expecially in the summer in Florida) I would fear the person was trying to concele their identity for some nefarious reason. Seldom a good thing.
Wow, so Campfield is nervous about people who cover their heads in the rain, in the "summer" of February. So, covering your head is concealing your identity, possibly for some nefarious reason, but covering your whole face with a luchador mask before you go to a football game is all in good fun?
Or is this Campfield's way of admitting that he is up to nefarious things and we should rightly fear his ominous presence?
Friday, March 9, 2012
Politics / Legislature / Hicks From the Sticks George Takei Makes Fun of Our Nutso Homophobic Legislature Again
Posted by Steve Haruch on Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 6:00 AM
In a fireside chat, George Takei has a message or three for Tennessee lawmakers and their LGBT-unfriendliness as of late. But it's not all talk — he's sending them presents, too. If these don't help our local "friends of Dorothy," as Takei calls them, grow a brain, a heart and some guts, respectively, then perhaps the erstwhile Mr. Sulu can deliver some more persuasive goodies by hand: He'll be in town for the Star Trek convention in June.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Hicks From the Sticks ACLU Denounces Principal for Telling Gay Kids They're Going to Hell
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 12:43 PM
"Haywood County School District's swift action makes it clear that they do not condone the type of harassment and targeted discrimination that was taking place at the high school," the ACLU's Weinberg said. "We applaud the Haywood County School District for affirming students' right to be who they are and to be free from bullying by school leadership."
***
The ACLU is demanding that school officials rebuke Haywood County principal Dorothy Bond for harassing gay children and threatening to expel them for showing affection for each other. At an assembly in February, Bond said gay students are "not on God's path," according to parents. She also said gay people are “ruining their lives.” While Bond was at it, she threw down on pregnant girls, telling them their "life is over."
“Students should never be made to feel like they are unwelcome at their own school, especially by school leadership,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “We expect school officials to clearly state that they do not condone this type of harassment and targeted discrimination, and to take action to ensure that it does not happen again.”
Monday, November 14, 2011
Hicks From the Sticks Rep. Womick: 'I Don't Trust One Muslim in Our Military.'
Posted by Jonathan Meador on Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 11:55 AM
Carrying the great American tradition of baseless xenophobia to new lows is Tennessee state Rep. Rick Womick, who had these kind words for Think Progress at Friday's "Preserving Freedom Conference" — on Veterans' Day, no less:
Personally, I don't trust one Muslim in our military, because they're commanded to lie to us through the term called taqiyya. And if they truly are a devout Muslim and follow the Koran and the Sunnah, then I feel threatened because they're commanded to kill me.
Womick is far from the first person to advocate purging Muslims from the U.S. military: Two years ago, the American Family Association's "Director of Issue Analysis" Bryan Fischer capitalized on the tragic shooting at Fort Hood to proclaim:
[T]he more devout a Muslim is, the more of a threat he is to national security. Devout Muslims, who accept the teachings of the Prophet as divinely inspired, believe it is their duty to kill infidels. Yesterday's massacre is living proof. And yesterday's incident is not the first fragging incident involving a Muslim taking out his fellow U.S. soldiers.
Most recently, GOP Presidential candidate (and allegeged serial harasser) Herman "9-9-9" Cain has warned that Islamic law will eventually corrupt our judicial system, and he invites you to call him crazy for it.
While Tennessee is certainly no stranger to uneducated and politically motivated attacks on Muslims by fundamentalist Christians, Womick's comments most certainly put him in the running for a big fat Boner Award all his own.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Politics / Hicks From the Sticks Ketron Lashes Out at Photo ID Critics
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 3:04 PM
Ketron said the party official, Tony Pegel—who himself has been an outspoken critic of the law—was allowed to vote even though he has a felony conviction in his past.
“There’s been much in the media lately regarding the frequency of ineligible voting with many Democrats and media sources reporting that there is little or no fraud here in our state of Tennessee,” Ketron said. “This is not factual. Today we are bringing forth a prime example of ineligible voting by a ranking local Democrat official.”
But the Murfreesboro Republican then went on to explain that, on his voter registration form, Pegel actually checked the box to admit he had been a felon (according to Ketron, he robbed a convenience store) and only through the incompetence of election officials was Pegel then allowed to vote. Apparently, no one noticed he checked the box or, if they did, they didn’t care.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Hicks From the Sticks Enough With the 'Smokin' Hot Wife' Prayer Already
Posted by Steve Haruch on Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 11:34 AM
- Painting: Katie Cooper
- The original "Junior."
But now let's get past how smokin' hot Joe Nelms' wife is (apparently) and imagining her in a smokin' hot checkered-flag bikini, rubbing ice on her neck while moaning about gapping her plugs. Let's get to the part of this prayer that is actually offensive, which is most of it! (I've redacted the product placements — always appropriate when invoking God's boy — so as not to give them any more free press. Unedited version is embedded below.) "Thank you for the [brand names] and the [brand names]. Thank you for the [brand names], and most of all we thank you for [brand name] and [brand name] partnering to give us the power that we see before us tonight. Thank you for [brand name] performance technology and the [trademark name] engines. Thank you for [brand name] racing fuel and [brand name] tires that bring performance and power to the track."
Yeah. Hey, on second thought, I guess this is exactly how baby Jesus of NASCAR-eth would want it. God bless America!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Hicks From the Sticks Psalm 72
Posted by Steve Haruch on Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 12:37 PM
“I think with Islam, there is an effort to not just leave people alone. There is a compulsion to force people to join that faith.”
—Brentwood dentist J. Lee Douglas, who apparently has never heard of the Crusades.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Film / Hicks From the Sticks Not Welcome, Documentary on Murfreesboro Mosque Controversy (Rough Cut)
Posted by Steve Haruch on Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 11:30 AM
Filmmaker Eric Allen Bell has been working on a documentary called Not Welcome, about the dust-up surrounding the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro. He's put up a 25-minute rough edit of the movie at www.notwelcomedocumentary.com, calling it a "proposal for the long form documentary." This early version is definitely rough, but it shows Bell has some pretty amazing footage in the can.
Aside from the easy theatrics of Islamophobes spewing weird, barely grammatical vitriol, there are moments of real insight. Ossama Bahloul, the imam of the ICM, offers that making a big public anti-mosque stink is actually rhetorical ammunition for Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and elsewhere, who are trying to convince moderate Muslims that America hates Islam. Murfreesboro mayor Ernest Burgess seems to be reading his statement from a sheet of paper, but he also seems to mean it when he says "cultural diversity adds something to any particular location."
Then there's more of that vitriol — in one shot you see someone get in Bell's face and tell him to "get your ass out of here." But that's not where the story ends. Bell says all the hate started to get to him — at one point he taunts a mosque protester by mocking his misspelled sign — and he had to find another way. That's where it really starts to get interesting.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Spurgeon / Media / Hicks From the Sticks ABC Picks up Tennessee-Set Pilot
Posted by Ashley Spurgeon on Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 2:00 PM
Cherry’s the mastermind behind Halleluah [sic], a drama pilot he wrote and will executive produce through ABC Studios. The logline: When the Tennessee town of Hallelujah finds itself being torn apart by forces of good and evil, a stranger arrives to bring justice, peace and quite possibly restore the faith in the world that the residents so desperately need. The episodes will be punctuated by songs sung by the gospel choir, which serves as a sort of Greek chorus.
Okay then! Considering Cherry’s love of broad farce, I’m concerned about Tennesseans possibly being portrayed as a bunch of ignorant yokels. Read the description again: you know ABC is already hard at work to reanimate the corpse of Ossie Davis so they can cast him as the resident Magical Negro.
But! Because I am kind, and an insatiable fan of television (not to mention a Tennessean), I have a few helpful tips:
