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FLORIDA KLAN
In November 1935 one of my relatives, Joseph Shoemaker, was murdered by the KKK in Tampa for union organizing. He was seized without warrant by the Tampa police and then "released" so that he could be kidnapped by klan members outside the police station. He was tarred and feathered, his genitals were mutilated, and he was beaten until partially ( Read more... ) -
THE MULLET DIES IN SANDERSON
It is a sunny Saturday afternoon in the fall of 1988. I am heading back to college from Thanksgiving vacation with my two best friends, Mark & Chip. I have known Mark since high school, and Chip even longer. They are good company for a drive ( Read more... ) -
MINORITY WHIP
If you produce an adult film set at a political convention called "Stirring Orations," you should have the minority whip give the stirring oration. -
SQUIRREL CHEWIN'
We have an old shed in the backyard. The exterior is made of the same brick as the house, and its covered with a metal roof. It originally served as a shop and well house, and the old well pump is still in there, as well as the original 350 gallon galvanized steel tank (which I plan on using to store rainwater, or beer, in the future ( Read more... ) -
RAIN
It rained. If finally rained again ( Read more... ) -
THE GOLDEN STATE AND SUNSHINE STATE
A huge difference I notice between living in California and Florida is my environmental outrage. But not for the reasons you might think. Certainly, California deserves its reputation as a leader in many areas of environmental stewardship. But what makes it so seductive is that the really horrible damage in California was done more than 100 years ( Read more... ) -
THE ANGEL OF DEATH
California is famed for its freeways, and in the San Francisco Bay Area the mother road is Interstate 80. Actually, there are no fewer than seven flavors of I-80: the 280, from San Francisco southward; the 580, 880, and 980 in Oakland; the 680 and 780 out to the northwest by the Carquinez Straits; and the 380 connector by the S. F. airport ( Read more... ) -
TO THE MOON FOREVER
I wrote a lot about the San Francisco housing bubble back in the day. Compared to prices now, though, the absolute top of the last bubble would have been a great buying opportunity. Prices are now $350/square foot more ( Read more... ) -
MURDERED BY THE KKK
just learned today that Joseph Shoemaker, my great-great-grandfather's brother, was murdered by the KKK outside of Tampa in 1935. His crime was being a socialist and trying to organize an independent political party, the Modern Democrats, to take on Tampa's corrupt political machine. He and two others were kidnapped after being held by police, who ( Read more... ) -
(Untitled)
I have become Ahab. Hollow on the inside save for hate and a clear sense of the inevitable. Rushed on by an unseen agency that has enslaved me to the race. This whole act is immutably decreed. Twas rehearsed a billion years before this ocean rolled. Fool! I am the Fates' lieutenant; I act under orders.