by VorJack
Saudi Arabia has its mutaween, self-appointed religious police who enforce Sharia law. It looks like Texas is starting to develop its own Christian version.
The Texas Observer has an article about the organization based in Amarillo, Texas, called “Repent Amarillo.” It looks to be a conservative Christian militant group dedicated to harassing and shutting down organizations that the group and its leader, David Grisham, consider sinful. The article focuses on the largely successful attempts to shut down a swingers club.
For the past year, this Bible Belt city of 200,000 has been consumed by a culture clash between Repent Amarillo and their targets, a list that includes everything from gay bars to liberal churches. For the Route 66 swingers, Grisham’s “special forces” have been a near-constant presence. Jobs have been lost, families estranged, assault charges filed and businesses shuttered. So far, no public official has stood up to defend these businesses, which operate legally. To the contrary, Repent Amarillo has managed to turn the city’s own laws and employees into an effective weapon. Amarillo, it turns out, doesn’t have the stomach to stick up for gays, swingers, strippers or even Unitarians. Absent a peacekeeper, the conflict might end up being settled the old-fashioned way, frontier-style. “This will not end until somebody gets hurt, either us or them,” one swinger warns.
[...]
Repent has made it clear that its crusade won’t end with the swingers. Last January, community theater group Avenue 10 was set to open Bent, a play about the persecution of homosexuals during Nazi Germany. The day before opening night, the fire marshal, police and code enforcers showed up, tipped off by a Repent associate, according to Sirc Michaels, co-founder of the theater. Avenue 10 didn’t have the right permit for holding events, and the space was shut down.
What’s next for Repent? They’ve posted a “Warfare Map” on the group’s Web site. The map includes establishments like gay bars, strip clubs and porn shops, but also the Wildcat Bluff Nature Center. Repent believes the 600-acre prairie park’s Walmart-funded “Earth Circle,” used for lectures, is a Mecca for witches and pagans. Also on the list are The 806 coffeehouse (a hangout for artists and counterculture types), the Islamic Center of Amarillo (“Allah is a false god”), and “compromised churches” like Polk Street Methodist (gay-friendly).
As the voice of christians continues to decline they will get louder and more dangerous. I can see groups like this forming in many areas of the country. Many times these groups have more power then they should because the politicians fear not getting reelected. I figure most of these types of groups have enough members to effect the outcome of local election when they vote as a group. This also enables them to get politicians to appoint people who will ignore their oaths and even laws to force their views on others.
Just the concept that this group has gained that much power is sickening. What ever happened to “Freedom of Religion”?
We DO have “freedom of religion” in this country. And the Christian Taliban which is now trying to seize control of Amarillo, very much acknowledges this! You see, in their eyes, you have “freedom” if you are part of their “religion.” If you don’t, then you do not have any “freedom.”
See how that works? “Freedom” of “religion.” Freedom only for those who are part of the correct religion. All others have forfeited their freedom. Or so Repent Amarillo thinks.
From their homepage: “Spirtual Warfare” .. what exactly are they going to spirt at us?
This reminds me of Stephen Baldwin’s crusade against porn:
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48347
Is this not how the Nazi started?
No Olaf, the Nazis were openly political, these folks are using religion to hide their political ambitions. Hence the Nazis were more honest.
This comment is made of win! Busterggi, if I could, I’d give you an award!
So these people are even worse than Atheists. ROFL
I meant the religious nuts, not the Nazi
Any word if there are any freethought organizations in Amarillo that have gotten these Christard’s attention?
there are the Panhandle Pastafarians. But I bet the self proclaimed “Army of God” (which interestingly translate in to hezballah) has made no mention of them.
The real problem here is that the local officials and law enforcement are playing their game. People like the sickos in this group exist everywhere, but they can’t effectively bully churches, coffeehouses, theaters, etc. unless they know they can get away with it – and in this case, even get cooperation from those in charge.
I hope the people they’re targeting can band together to find ways to denounce, expose and fight them. I’d like to see an “army” of strippers, Methodists, Muslims, atheists, swingers, actors, etc. join up so they can afford to file harassment claims. The mistake here would be waiting for them to target each group, one by one, before getting involved. Preemptive support and unity is what’s needed.
As a Texan, this embarrasses me more than most things do in Texas. Check out thier website it is truely sick. These are legitimate businesses that operate legally. However Amarillo is know as backwoods even in Texas. Amarillo is also notorious for not being able to handle any sort of variance from bible thumping-fag hating-country music loving- cheap beer drinking- rednecks. Just see the case when a local killed another kid for being into Punk Music.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Brian_Deneke
Taylor, that article you linked gives me… hope? Hope that people this radical are just the fringe of our society, not working into the mainstream.
The fundies are getting bolder by the week. How long until one of these groups decides to do a team action, instead of these one man shooting/plane crashing events? How would our country react if a group of 7 armed Bubbas went on a killing spree to end some blasphemy that was offending their delicate sensibilities?
Ill be in my shop, checking my munition stores.
These groups only have as much power as the officials give them. Selective enforcement of laws is the most power weapon in their arsenal. I am sad to say, that the people are behind this sort of thing. Hooters was denied a liquor license in South Arlington in 2007 because of this sort of thing. However, they fought back and won. They selectively enforce traffic rules and BYOB rules to shut down private swingers parties. And they selectively enforce the Section 43.21 of the Texas Penal Code which, in part, prohibits the sale or promotion of “”Obscene device[s]” mean[ing] a device including a dildo or artificial vagina, designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs.” to shut down home-based “Passion Parties” and sex shops. Not all, just some. So I am sad to say the law is not on the side of the legal. We have creationist, open about their agenda, running the State Board of Education. And so on and so on and so on. Texas is breeding group for these sorts of groups.
In a nutshell this is why I am a millitant atheist. Religion cannot exist without people like this cropping up, therefore the world would be far a better place without religion.
Pft. Militant? You? What are you going to do, hit them with a Bobby’s stick?
This is a militant atheist:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Revyloution#p/a/u/0/i_27G4rnoRo
(me :) )
I tend to be selectively militant. Kind of like an inverse of the golden rule. I treat people they way they treat me. Religious people who aren’t that concerned about what I believe and aren’t threatened by my lack of belief (liberal Christians, Pagans, Jews) I pretty much leave alone.
However these fucktards in Amarillo are a different story completely.
Subscribed :D
Hey thanks! Did you watch the mad scientist video?
My next video, if I ever get off my lazy arse, is to throw away my uniform and disavow my connection with the Boy Scouts of America.
No, I got caught up watching Amazing Atheist pwn some 15 year-old neocon dipshit, but I’ll watch it now.
Lulz! Inspired by Answers In Genesis much?
Answers in Genesis. All our scientists are REAL scientists! You can tell, because they wear lab coats!
Wow. Welcome to the Other side.
nomad, I’m not really that crazy. I was just angry when I drove by the teabaggers protesting in my town. I stopped and tried to talk, tried to understand, but they were just angry ideologues. I couldn’t get one of them to articulate a single point, they just wanted to yell that they had ‘had enough’ and they wanted ‘government out of their lives’.
I am a gun nut, but only as a hobby. Any time there is a chance of a real gun fight, you will find me running away from it, not towards it.
Whoa.
Dude, you look like a skinny short haired version of me. Seriously. We could be, like, brothers. Or cousins. Or something.
Also, what was that gun? Couldn’t quite figure it out.
Its a Heckler and Koch 91. Its the non-automatic version of the G3. Fires the 7.62×51 round (or the .308 for yanks). Roller block delay action. It’s a tad on the heavy side, but very accurate with a more powerful round than the .223.
I did a gun pron video on my channel too. It’s a bit funny, with video of me getting nailed in the eye by the scope at the end.
I wondered if it was an HK91, but I couldn’t tell from my brief view of the video. That boxy magazine is what made me think it was.
I like the .308 round much more than the .223.
I used to shoot for the Wales under 18 rifle shooting squad, and most of our competitions were with a rifle called the GP (“general purpouse”), which is identical to the SA-80 but with the gas parts removed. If the instructors felt like making it easy for us, they let us use SUSATs (Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux) for the day. My favourite part of seeing a newbie pick up a rifle with SUSATs fitted was the inevitable black-eye they’d get after firing it with their eye mashed hard into the sight :D
Cool. It’s the switch from conservative to liberal I appreciate. Welcome to the Other side.
Yup, Texas is still the scariest part of America.
You clearly know very little about Texas. :(
I think that depending on what scares you, his comment could be entirely accurate.
If, for example, being killed by the state government is your greatest fear, then Texas is provably the scariest state in the country.
Also, if you are scared of overweight people. Or heart surgery. Or oil pumps.
Or tornadoes. Seriously. Oklahoma (my home state) and Texas scare me for that reason alone.
Well, Ty, I find east LA and the south Bronx much much scarier than Texas (in general). Of course I wouldn’t hang out in 5th Ward (in Houston) or Oak Cliff (in Dallas) either. The fact is that there are scary places everywhere, and to stereotype Texas is just silly.
You are using your own definitions of scary. Which are entirely valid, but I was pointing out that scary is a subjective term. And there are any number of measurements by which Texas might be scarier to someone than any other state. I mentioned several of them.
I don’t find Texas scary, personally. My experience with is has been just at the level of unpleasant. I’ve never been to Austin, though. Everyone tells me I need to go to Austin.
Yes, but Ty, people regularly bash Texas here for no reason other than ignorant stereotyping. As a Texan, I take offense at that. As I said, there is scary everywhere. Just like there’s stupid everywhere.
Fine.
But this person didn’t say, “Texas has the stupidest people in the country” which would be a statement of fact. He said it was, “Scary,” which is a subjective statement.
I can totally see a variety of reasons why someone might view Texas as the scariest state. The execution stats I mentioned is a good one.
I get why you are defensive, but you’re response doesn’t actually make sense. It’s like someone saying, “LotR is the scariest series I’ve ever read,” and you saying, “Then you don’t know much about LotR.”
You don’t get to decide what other people find scary.
Now, if he says everyone in Texas is a fundamentalist, go ahead and give him both barrels.
Ty- The person is replying that ALL of Texas is scary, despite the fact that this article is about one smallish town (Amarillo). Perhaps Amarillo is scary. Perhaps not. But to stereotype the whole state is ignorant. Thus, my statement that the person clearly knows little about this place.
To call Texas scary is a negative judgement. I don’t accept negative judgements of my state from ignorati. Sorry.
This reminds me of a story. I once had a student in NYC who said to me, “I used to hate all Texans until I met you.” I said, “Well, how many Texans did you know before me?” She said, “None.”
This “Texas is scary” business feels a lot like that conversation.
You don’t get to decide what other people find scary. That seems very straightforward to me.
He finds Texas scary. I find sushi horrifying. These are equally subjective statements. I would be, rightly, quite offended if someone told me my opinions on sushi made me an ignorati.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree then. But my question on sushi is: have you ever tried it? If not, then how do you know you don’t like it?
Yes, but that isn’t the issue.
The piece you keep missing is the utterly subjective nature of scariness. I could find sushi horrifying only because of how it looked, or how it smelled, or because those five letters in that order strike fear into me. Any of those is equally valid reasons to find it scary.
Scary is not a measurement of worth.
Ok- Let’s look again at the statement:
“Yup, Texas is still the scariest part of America.”
The use of the informal word, “Yup” implies a casual attitude. This followed by a statement that I perceive as an insult to Texas. I doubt this person is *literally* shaking in his or her boots at the thought of the whole of Texas, but if they were, then what is this person’s fear based on? Likely misinformation about this wonderful state. That is why I take offense. Because my home has been lumped in with some crazy group in Amarillo. Thus, this person would find where I live scary, where my grandma lives scary, hell, where Kinky Friedman lives scary. That is just utter silliness.
Sure he/she has a right to find whatever scary. And I have the right to my opinion as well.
Yes.
But you are assuming their reasons are based on misinformation. And you then call the person an ignorati.
After having spent a fair amount of time in Dallas and Corpus Christi, I have a sort of general dislike of Texas. Am I ignorant?
Fine, but would you go so far as to say that you disliked all of Texas (or all Texans, for that matter) based on your limited experience? If so, then yes, I might be inclined to call you ignorant.
It’s not like this is a first time occurrence and that I’m being hyper-sensitive. I deal with people regularly insulting Texas— especially people who have never been here, let alone lived here. You should see the awful things that people say about Texas over at Pharyngula.
I love my state (my home!) and I’m inclined to defend it!
Yeah, until I have an experience that alters my perception, I’d say I generally dislike Texas. I would not say I dislike Texans. Quite a few of my good friends are Texans, current or former.
But Texas itself has more negative connotations to me than positive ones. Though, this is without having visited Austin yet, which my friends tell me will change my mind.
Fair enough!
For me, Texas has lots of positive connotations, but I have lived here for 31 of my 35 years (the other 4 were in NYC– a place that I didn’t like at all!!)
We can agree on that one. I dislike NYC quite a lot. And yes, I’ve spent a fair amount of time there, too.
LRA & Ty – interesting back & forth about Texas & sushi…LRA, I respect that you are loyal to your state – I am a proud Canadian and would defend it equally passionately! However, there are parts of Texas that seem to be particularly right-wing and militant. Unfortunately, it has seeped into the power structure also (someone mentioned the capital punishment rate…). This probably does not apply to sophisticated urban centres or other regions of Texas. I used to have a negative view of Georgia – until I dated a man who lived there. I visited Atlanta several times, and was shocked at how progressive, sophisticated, and open it was. Little 5 points was incredible – not at all what I expected. So when someone talks about what a state is like – isn’t that pretty hard to pin down?
Scary for me is where our species might be headed. Think of Carl Sagans ‘Demon haunted world’. If we live in a world of technology, but think in a world of the supernatural, then we’re in big trouble.
Texas’ influence in the textbook industry in the US is what scares me the most. The recent election where McLeroy lost does give me hope over those fears.
Exactly, which is why rational Texans are fighting hard to counter that bullcrap!
Kudos then!
And since your’e from Texas, Do you know AaronRa? I love that guy!
I don’t, but I’ll keep an eye out for him (does he comment here on UF?)
I wish he did.
If you don’t know him, he does educational videos on Youtube. He also testified against McLeroy a couple of years ago. His vids are informative and hilarious (under the same channel name), and he also goes by the nickname the Texas Tank.
His Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism series is a must watch. Here is his channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/aronra?blend=1&ob=4
I lived in Texas (Del Rio and Austin), as well as spent quite a bit of time there on other events. The FundyMcFundytards do frighten me about Texas, in particular the influence Texas has on education. While there is scary and stupid everywhere, texas has the greatest capacity to spread it beyond it’s borders. Thankfully McElroy (or whatever that fucktard’s name was) was defeated for the BOE post. Sadly, another fucktard was elected in a different district.
Please keep up the fight LRA. You have no idea how much we depend on the rational people of Texas to beat down that nonsense!
LOL! Thanks. I bet my representative is getting tired of hearing from me!!! I write regularly.
Perhaps. Austin is quite liberal, but still has the “Texas friendly” attitude that you find everywhere in Texas. I like living in Austin, but I also like Dallas. There are more things to do in Dallas (ie more museums, more varied types of night life, more restautants, etc.) I don’t care for Houston but that has more to do with the humidity/heat and the lack of good zoning. The people there are just as nice as you find everywhere else. Also, I love Tyler because it is a beautiful little town, but it’s too small for me.
I disliked Dallas intensely. But I admit I didn’t spend a lot of time in museums and restaurants while I was there.
My friends in the movie industry tell me Austin is a mecca for filmmakers.
Yeah, Dallas can rub a person the wrong way, especially if you hate phony types. Austin has a pretty good film industry here, and is quite laid back. :)
I’m not sure what it was about Dallas, actually. I dislike it in the same way I dislike my current city of residence, I think. It reminds me of an endless series of strip malls.
I love cities with character. Dallas (and my current city) seemed utterly lacking in it.
Ah! I got you! Well, I lived in old Downtown Plano and then the Lakewood area (by White Rock Lake and the Arboretum) when I lived in Dallas. Both areas are older- dating back to the 1800′s– and had plenty of character for me. But I do get your point.
Is Austin as awesome as it is made out to be?
oops! replied to you above…
Or if your afraid of Mexicans. Dont move to Texas if you have xenophobia of the latino variety.
Los latinos que me asusta.
Wow, they even have “The War Legion” on their stupid map. I don’t see what’s so evil about it, it’s just a death metal venue.
@LRA: You sure are feisty! But I am sorry if I offended you (though I did enjoy the tasty debate you and Ty had). I have to agree with you actually. I have never been to Texas, and I’ve met very few Texan’s (worked with one on a Syncrude Project, incredibly jolly man). IN FACT I have only even been to the states once in my whole life. So yes, my statement was completely based on hearsay and stereotypes. It’s only from this site, actually, that I’ve heard anything positive about Texas (which was somewhat comforting).
I know that where you live doesn’t necessarily determine anything about how you behave (although I am often stereotypically Canadian). But I also know that stereotypes are usually founded on something (whether or not exaggerated). So my fears aren’t completely unfounded, right? I’m actually kind of afraid of the US as a whole. I’ve always wanted to take a road trip down through the states but am discouraged by stories of violence, theft and scary small towns. I know there has to be sweet places to go and do things, I just have no idea where they might be.
Anywho, I retract my original statement. It was unfair of me.
My wife and I took a six month driving tour of the US several years ago. We’ve driven in every one of the continental states.
We didn’t have a single problem during the entire trip.
LOL! Thanks for that! I love my state and it gets a lot of flack. I try to defend it as much as possible because I think that every place has its pros and cons. For me Texas has lots of pros! :)
You don’t think Texas deserves any of the reaction it gets to this sort of thing?
As nice as it might be to live there, it does have a goodly proportion of fundamentalism, and it also has money and influence. That’s a bad combination for the godless likes of us. I mean, it’s not worse than Alabama, but no one cares what Alabama thinks about anything.
Ty, where do you live?
Right now? In the US’s taint. Otherwise known as Albuquerque NM. But I’ve lived all over the west and southwest of the US at one time or another.
@LRA: while I dislike Texas (being from Oklahoma, and having family who live in Dallas and Houston and also having ancestral roots in Houston, it’s more of a love/hate relationship), I feel your irritation at sweeping generalizations about Texas–and “The South.” Since I started visiting atheist blogs/websites, and nearly every time I read a news item about religion in America, I can bank on reading some snotty little missive about how utterly HORRIBLE and unnecessary Texas/The South is to the Union. I’ve found that such snotty missives are usually employed in order to make the poster feel “superior” about their particular region of the country. I lived in Massachusetts: HATED IT. Michigan: REALLY hated it. Tennessee: Didn’t really hate it (surprise!) Georgia: Kinda liked Atlanta. I live in South Carolina and aside from the people who love Jesus more than is necessary or required, I love it.
:) Thanks Roger. I’ll forgive you for being an Okie. LOL!
One of my favorite places in the US is in North Carolina. I spent a lovely week in North Carolina. I don’t have much memory of South Carolina though.
I did a very long work stretch in Knoxville. It was ok. Atlanta, though. Gah, I hated Atlanta. The most blatant racism I’ve ever seen in my life occurred during my time in Georgia. Like, blatant and institutionalized racism. Also the traffic was awful.
I liked all the parts of Mass that aren’t Boston. Though, since I spent time in Boston during the Big Dig, that may have had a lot to do with my dislike of that city. I’m sure it’s lovely without the worst traffic in America.
I’ve only really driven through Michigan. There wasn’t anything there my wife or I really wanted to see, so we didn’t spend enough time to get a good feel for the place.
I plan on moving to NC as soon as I can. Definitely my favorite area.
Interesting… I’m applying to Duke and UNC this fall… it’s a UF conspiracy!!! We all move to North Carolina and take down religion from the inside out!!!
:P
Meh. I spent the first two-thirds of my life in NC. Winston-Salem, the town named after two cigarettes, Asheville, the city that Rolling Stone called “the San Fransisco of the east” the same year that Modern Maturity declared it one of the top five cities in America in which to retire. I’ll pass.
Though I’d kill for some eastern NC barbecue.
Good luck with Duke and Chapel Hill, though. Those are both excellent schools. I also hear they also have some pretty good academics to compliment their basketball teams.
When it comes to barbecue, it’s Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas barbecue, or it’s nothing at all. I didn’t know of the existence of mustard-based predominantly pig BBQ until I moved to the Deep South. And it is wrong. Wrong, I say!!
Talk that like starts jihads.
Anyway, eastern style is vinegar based. Western style (or Lexington style) is the traditional syrupy-ketchup BBQ sauce. Mustard based shows up from time to time in both regions, but its more of a South Carolina thing.
Talk that like starts jihads.
Oh, but what a delicious, smoky-aromaed jihad it willl be!
Ty-
Texas is a big, big state. As such, a few crazy things happen here and there that get reported every so often. Crazy stuff happens everywhere, though. Racism happens just as much in NYC as it does in Texas. There are as many gangs in California as Texas. Crazy religious/new age crap happens just as much in Florida or Utah as it does here (like the dude that killed 3 people in a sweat lodge in Florida). Yes, there are some fringe crazies here (but there are fringe crazies everywhere), and yes our politics can be quite the three ring circus (but politics in Washington can be ridiculous as well), but over all, Texas is an awesome place to live!
Every part of the country has it’s reputation. People think New Yorkers (hell Northeasterners in general) are rude. People think that California is full of fake barbies and kens. People think that Florida is all retired Jews from NYC and spring break partiers. Do these places deserve these stereotypes?
I didn’t ask about gangs or racism or Barbie. I was talking only about the confluence of religious fundamentalism and money/influence that seems to cause so much of the fear that atheists feel about the state. I mean, yes, you guys did just barely vote out your creationist education Czar. But you had one to begin with. I think Texas takes some well deserved criticism on that front.
Just let ‘em try to shut down the Polk Street Methodist Church! I think they’ll regret picking a fight with the triangular Christians. My money’s on the pink Polkadots.
I’ve mention this before on this site but Texas has some pretty old Freethinker roots. So while I agree there are several things about Texas that are scary we Texas Freethinkers have a irreligious history we can be proud of.
“Freethinkers” Of the Early Texas Hill Country
http://www.ffrf.org/legacy/fttoday/1998/april98/scharf.html
As a former Amarillo resident, I thought the Brian Deneke murder trail was a travesty and a testament of the pure fundamentalism of the city and its people. Six years after leaving, I am sad to see the old boy network has not changed. The citizenry of this city continues to give Repent Amarillo a free reign maybe surprised when it is they who are in their crossbow.
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The Amarillans who wish to get this nuisance off their back should consider infiltrating the fundie group and digging up all the dirt on its members. Foment internal strife. Economic warfare is another option- don’t patronize any businesses owned by its members. And of course there must be zoning and other laws that could be used against these individuals. Perhaps the ACLU might have some advice.
As for the general perception that Texas has too many fundamentalists, too many guns, too many racists and gay-bashers, and not enough high school graduates, the state has worked long and hard to produce this stereotypical image. If you’re a Texan who doesn’t fit the cookie cutter, I salute you.
When will we see these headlines out of TX?:
“US Army Wiccan Chaplin delivers opening prayer at capital”
“Governor stays execution of minor who shot his father; says 17-year-old never had a chance in disfunctional family, needs long-term psychiatric help.”
“Gay icon delivers graduation speech”
“Oil executive says creationsts wrong, are ruining students’ chance to get a good science education.”
I would rather see “Freedom FROM religion” than “Freedom OF Religion”…but that’s just me….
I visited their site – on the “mission” page they list events where they seek to inject themselves; events that they wish to disrupt or “witness” to people. While many of them may be alarming (and of course there is the predicable Pride Parade hatred), two leapt out of my laptop:
4. Breast cancer events such as “Race for the Cure” to illuminate the link between abortion and breast cancer.
5. Opening day of public schools to reach out to students.
Yikes. *shakes head, eyes closed, nose to the floor*
obviously, all those with breast cancer had an abortion and deserve their disease as punishment from gawd. Amarillo’s very own Westboro want-to-bes. Glad I have moved to the more liberal city of Tulsa.
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I’ll put in props for Asheville. It is a lovely little city in a beautiful location. too much of the rest of urban North Carolina is unregulated faux rural sprawl (three acre ranchettes along every road to the point where there is no real country…and no real city either) and strip malls.
Knoxville is “meh.” Great potential (unrealized) a downtown that was not bulldozed, but no sidewalks, shabby overall, junkyards along main arterials…if you can imagine five miles of used car lots, each with shabby twinkling streamers in the parking lot…that’s Knoxville for you. And the ugliest, least developed, and least interesting “college town” area I’ve ever seen.
I think I have positive memories of Knoxville pretty much only because I got to go to Vol’s games for free.
I saw Peyton Manning and Jamal Lewis play there. That was pretty awesome.
These people are getting away with this stuff because they have the permission … if not the overt support … of local law enforcement. I’d love to see if they try this kind of stuff somewhere outside the range of where they “know” they have permission to operate. If they refuse to venture outside their approved “comfort zone,” then we know they don’t actually have the courage of their convictions.
“I interview Grisham and his fourth wife”….four? Someone seems to be a little wife swapping of their own…
*doing
When lifestyle clubs aren’t close enough for an evening out, or they just don’t feel right, you may have to get creative when it comes to meeting other couples. The old fashioned way of advertising in the back pages of adult magazines is over.http://ping.fm/Mu0sr.
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Here’s a terrific article on the Texas Board of Education’s revisionist history vs. what actually happened. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/geoffrey-r-stone/the-crazy-imaginings-of-t_b_507535.html