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Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

Andy Driska

Just watched this gritty documentary on dancing, fatalism, and pill-popping in coal country W.Va. Best part, hands down… one of the dudes shaking a bottle of pills, “that’s the Boone County matin’ call.” The movie chronicles the White family of Boone County, WV, who seem to be a relic of the Hatfield-McCoy era. The movie is marked by rampant drug use, mostly snorting prescription pills like Xanax and Vicodin, and lots of casual pot smoking. This goes on during most family gatherings. In the final scene, where they are having a party out at a city park, the little kids … Continue reading Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

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From the Daily Show – Revenue Crunch for States

Andy Driska

Main St. Anytown U.S.A. http://www.thedailyshow.com http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:371595 Most states (47 of 50) are out of money and looking for ways to generate revenue without increasing taxes or changing tax structures. The fear seems to be that if taxes are increased, businesses and people with higher incomes will leave the state and relocate to other states where taxes are lower. I think this argument is too simple. It’s impossible to have low taxes and a high standard of living. A high standard of living means good schools, affordable health care, transportation infrastructure, clean and safe neighborhoods. That has a cost. It’s a … Continue reading From the Daily Show – Revenue Crunch for States

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From the Daily Show – Larry Wilmore’s Take on Huck Finn

Andy Driska

This is such an old argument. Wilmore makes his point humorously. He also pokes fun at the current congress for whitewashing history in their recent edited reading of the Constitution on the floor of the House, which omitted the section about slaves counting as three-fifths of a person. This clip appeared on the Daily Show with John Stewart (January 11, 2011). http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:370709 Continue reading From the Daily Show – Larry Wilmore’s Take on Huck Finn

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A second go-round

Andy Driska

This blog represents my attempt to re-romance the web. Ten years ago, or thereabouts, I spent a lot of time creating websites. It started with a website for the Ithaca College swim team (I’m a 2000 IC alum), which probably provided a little too much information on some of our team’s extracurricular activities. The college and sports information weren’t savvy enough to notice that there were pictures of athletes drinking beer on a quasi-official team site (I will attribute my indiscretion to the fact that I was a 20 year-old college boy lacking anything that resembled good judgment). That was … Continue reading A second go-round