Huntington West Virginia Blog

The movie We are...Marshall is scheduled for widespread release on December 22, 2006.

I was a ten year old kid in Huntington when the Marshall University plane went down. I was at the Roll-O-Rama skating rink in Huntington the evening of the Marshall University plane crash on November 14, 1970. There is no person who lived in Huntington West Virginia at that time who will ever forget that evening. It is one of those memories you carry for a lifetime.

I lived about 6 blocks from the old Fairfield stadium back then. Between 1968 and 1971, I rarely missed a game. There was a local policeman who always saw to it, that I had a ticket when he could. Marshall University Football Tickets for kids were only 2.00 back then. The police officers who provided security for the Marshall University Football games back then sometimes got a few extra tickets and it was common practice to give them to well behaved kids. One of the policemen lived across the street from the stadium in a two story house with a window in the upstairs front room that gave a Birds eye view of the stadium by looking over the fence. That cop was my buddy when I did not have a ticket. He kept the kids out of the cold. Nice guy.

I knew some of the people who died on the plane. I think the majority of Huntington WV at that time did.  In the months after that plane crash the whole town of Huntington WV was full of traumatized people.

I am hoping this We are...Marshall movie brings about some healing to those who lost friends and family. I cried like a baby just watching the movie trailer.

The We are...Marshall movie was filmed in Huntington WV and ths adds realism to local citizens who remember all too well what happened on November 14, 1970.

WHen you go to the theatre to see the We are...Marshall movie, don't forget to take a BIG box of Kleenex. This is especially true if you lived in Huntington WV or Attended Marshall University at that time.

We are...Marshall will be a classic movie that addresses the ability of the people of Huntington WV and the Alumni of Marshall University to rise from despair and overcome hardship.

This movie We are...Marshall is as much about the resiliency of our people, as it is about Marshall University and its football team.

Once in a generation something happens to put West Virginia on the map. I wish to note that it was the year 1970 when John Denver released the song,"Take Me Home Country Roads" and it became a platinum hit and stayed on the top of the music charts for weeks on end. 

I feel the We are...Marshall movie will be taken to heart by the people of West Virginia in much the same way as they embraced and loved John Denver's classic song about West Virginia.

I was in the stands at the old Marshall University Fairfield Stadium when I believe it was Reggie Oliver who ran for that first touchdown after the plane crash. That moment was the rebirth of hope to revive the football program. That one touchdown made us as happy as if we had won the Superbowl.

If the We are...Marshall movie does not win an Academy Award ( Oscar), then the Academy of Motion Pictures will be missing an opportunity to show appreciation for excellence. There is no excuse not to see this movie, Highly reccommended.

Stephanie Heck

Drug Arrests in Huntington WV.

It appears that the local drug task force has made a large number of drug arrests in Huntington this week. It is my understanding that crack houses all over town were raided. and the number of arrests varies between 40 and 80 according to local sources. I wish to congtatulate local law enforcement for a fine job and I also extent thanks and accolades to the WV State Troopers and Federal Agents involved. Good Job!

You can now subscribe to my blog by e-mail and get new articles as they are published my e-mail. We have a pretty good size readership and this feature has been requested by several readers. The subscription service for this feed is managed by FeedBlitz and they are quite reputable.

Stephanie Heck  http://feeds.feedburner.com/huntington

The question about the legality of the religious painting at Bridgeport High School in West Virginia is most properly submitted by the school board to the attorney for the West Virginia State Department of Education in consultation with the attorney generals staff. Why was this not done? Government entities in this state have the right to solicit a legal opinion from the Attorney Generals office at no cost. It is cheaper than federal litigation. It is in my mind totally irresponsible for a local state funded government body, to contract with out of state lawyers to fight a lawsuit on constitutional issues, without first seeking a legal opinion from the states attorney general to determine if the school boards legal position is tenable or defensible at law.

The religious painting was allegedly "stolen"? The presumption that the painting was "stolen" is based on the presumption that the school board had a legal right to own it and display it. That is what the lawsuit was intended to determine.

In much the same way that possession of marijuana by private citizens is regulated by statute. Possession and displays of religious items by government entities is regulated by the establishment clause of Amendment 1. Private citizens have the unlimited right to own both secular and religious personal property, however it is somewhat questionable if religious property rights extend to government. However, I question the logic of those who believe that state government funded entities have the right to own or display religious items. This is exactly the reason that the state cannot own a church. I am not opposed to anyone's faith, but I am pro Bill of rights.

What kind of bothers me more than the religious painting issue is that the school board has been involved in raising money via a third party out of state law firm for the defense of an alleged right of a government funded body to post a religious painting in a public funded building. Does this right exist? I doubt it according to the case law I have read.

I think the Harrison County School Board should have first procedurally solicited a WV Attorney Generals legal opinion on the constitutional issues before proceeding to get involved with an out of state law firm. It appears that fanaticism has impeached proper procedure, and the West Virginia Dept. of Education needs to look a little closer at this situation.

It seems that Tri State Airport at Huntington West Virginia was briefly evacuated today due to the fact that a liquid substance in a passengers carry on luggage set off an alarm with the explosive and flammable substances detector at the airport.

It has not been released to the public just exactly what the alleged explosive substance at the airport actually was. According to a chemist I know, a bottle of high proof liquor qualifies as a flammable substance, and good ole West Virginia moonshine qualifies as an explosive fuel based on its chemical profile.

Political Commentary.

Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman has lost the Democratic primary election for his fourth term in the U.S. Senate, just six years after being the party’s national vice presidential candidate. This U.S. Senate race is the first major political upset of election 2006 by newcomer Senate candidate Ned Lamont. Much will chnce in the next few months in national politics. The centrist and liberal Democrats in Joe Lieberman's home state of Connecticut are very irate at Joe Lieberman for supporting the Iraq war that many Democrats sincerely believe to be illegal and unconstitutional.

Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman has been accused of brown-nosing the president and his right wing cadre of Republican war mongers by moderate and liberal Democrats and therefore Senator Joe Lieberman is perceived as a D.I.N.O. or (Democrat In Name Only )

The Democrats in Joe Lieberman's home state do not desire that Joe Lieberman in his capacity as their Democratic Senator, reject the centrist values of the Democratic party in excessive compromise with the extremist neoconservative element of the opposition GOP party under the command of George W. Bush. In short they do not desire to have a Democratic U.S. Senator that pretends to be a Democrat but votes like a Republican.

In short Senator Joe Lieberman has lost his credibility as a Democrat, long before losing the democratic primary in the U.S. Senate Race in election 2006. Senator Joe Lieberman does not seem to understand the basic political concept that the United States involvement in the War in Iraq is very unpopular among democratic voters nationwide. The war in Iraq is almost as unpopular as the high fuel prices that are putting record profits in big oil companies coffers.

The majority of the American people admire the military but have severe questions about the policies of the the president and the administration that sends them into battle in search of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction that did not exist. Well over 2500 members of the U.S. Armed forces have died as the result of this wild goose chase that is rapidly turning into another Vietnam. Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman cannot seem to understand why his position of supporting this insane war is offensive to the vast majority of moderate democrats.

Such as the fate of those so called Democrats who kiss the posterior of the GOP's Elephant.

Stephanie Heck.

A Proud West Virginia Democrat.

Run baby run, as fast as you can.

Let the spirit of good dreams take your hand.

As a misty veil covers your eyes.

The world takes on a disguise.

You dream of gold and silver and great shiny pearls.

Of conquering strange and far away worlds.

Of love and romance, hear the church bell sing.

Then a handsome man gives you a gold ring.

You dream of the world as it should be.

Then the real gives way to reality.

All of a sudden life is real again.

As you hear the alarm clocks clanging din.

You wish that you could go back to sleep.

To dream of a world so magic and sweet.

Oh.. if only to dream.

61 years ago this day a huge Mushroom Cloud from an Atomic Bomb rose over the city of Hiroshima Japan bringing a beginning of the end to the second World War, and started the atomic age of global politics of the cold war and the nuclear terror that went with it.

It is my understanding that the Harrison County Board of Education has voted to allow a portrait of Jesus to continue to hang at the High School in Bridgeport WV. As I understand it, the Bridgeport High School and the Harrison County Board of Education have been sued by the ACLU in Federal Court for allowing a portrait of Jesus to hang in the Principal's office at the school. Nobody knows what Jesus actually looked like but the Bridgeport West Virginia High School allegedly has a picture of him. Some devout people see "pictures of Jesus" to be "graven images". So the question before me revolves around the concept that the Bridgeport WV High School and the Harrison County Board of Education is either the owner of a religious or a sacrilegious artistic display depending on the readers perspective.

According to numerous sources, the alleged portrait of Jesus has been hanging in the same place for more than 30 years. I asked a few devoutly religious people that I know what they thought of this, and was told that the posting of religious art is a form of "artistic ministry", and this is why the churches have commissioned works of religious art for centuries. I thought this "artistic ministry" to be an interesting perspective that I had not previously contemplated before. I did some research in the West Virginia State Constitution and discovered that the West Virginia Constitution does not directly address the topic of "artistic ministry" or "religious art displays".

However the West Virginia Constitution does indirectly address the situation at the Bridgeport High School and the Harrison County Board of Education. The West Virginia State Constitution does prohibit the collection of public tax money to support any type or religious place of ministry or worship and many devout people see "religious art" as a valid form of ministry.

The West Virginia State Constitution expressly states that religious freedom is an individual right and no expressed or implied provision is made for a state tax funded entity to have religious freedom or religious opinions or commentary in any capacity, as that right is exclusively reserved for individual citizens.

The West Virginia State Constitution poses a second problem for the situation at the Bridgeport High School and the Harrison County Board of Education. Compulsory attendance to any religious art display or religious place or ministry IS a VIOLATION of the expressed prohibitions in the West Virginia State Constitution. The state of West Virginia compels students to attend school.

If a non christian student steals or destroys the portrait of the person that the Bridgeport WV High School alleges to be Jesus. How will the school board punish the kids religious dissent without violating the kids civil rights?

As long as the alleged portrait of "Jesus" is hanging in the Bridgeport High School under the control of the Harrison County Board of Education. Compulsory attendance (truancy) laws cannot be enforced within the scope of the West Virginia State Constitution because the wall where religious art is hanging is a "religious place" and no student or teacher can be compelled to frequent a religious place under the state constitution. It does not matter if that religious place is a single wall in a school house, or 10 city blocks of religious art in a huge gallery. The size of the religious display in a religious place is irrelevant.

Read the state constitution and make up your own mind what it says. I am not anti religious but I am pro constitution. Article Three, Section Fifteen of the West Virginia State Constitution is below:

3-15. Religious freedom guaranteed.

No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burdened, in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters of religion; and the same shall, in nowise, affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this state, to levy on themselves, or others, any tax for the erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free for every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support, such private contracts as he shall please.

This may well explain why Lebanon's small Christian dominated army has not deployed itself against the Israeli military invasion that is killing unarmed civilians, in addition to killing a large number of militant Muslim Hezbollah fighters. The Lebanese army is deployed in Northern Lebanon and is NOT responding with any measure of force to the Israeli invasion that is intended to crush Hezbollah.

It appears that the christian elements of the Lebanese government are sitting on their posterior and allowing the Jewish Israeli army to kill off Militant Muslim Hezbollah fighters who are operating a highly armed Hezbollah militia in violation of Lebanese law, and to some degree international law. If this was not true then the official Lebanese army would have entered the battle by now in response to the Israeli invasion / incursion into Lebanese territory. I have come to the conclusion that pacifism is deemed a professional virtue in the Lebanese Army

The Government of Lebanon has failed to order it own army into the battle and has therefore failed to uphold it own sovereignty and secure its own borders. The Hezbollah militia forces appear to be receiving no help whatsoever from the Lebanese Army ( but possibly from Syria and Iran ) because the Lebanese army's problem ( Hezbollah militia ) is being attacked by a foreign force. 

Hezbollah has what has been estimated to be 6-8,000 guerrilla fighters arrayed along the border between between Lebanon and Israel. It is these militant Hezbollah fighters that the Army of Israel has engaged in battle. Hezbollah has been estimated to have somewhere between 10000 and 12000 Katyusha rockets. It is estimated that 2300 Katyusha rockets have been fired at Israel by the Hezbollah militia since the fighting started. Hezbollah has been firing Katyusha rockets into northern Israel for over a year and the Israeli government is tired of the Katyusha rocket attacks, and has retaliated.

I feel that Israel was provoked by Hezbollah and the Katyusha rocket attacks by Hezbollah are a problem to the military security of the Jewish nation. However, I feel that the response to the initial provocation now has gone far beyond a reasonable punitive counterattack and a cease fire is now in order to give the diplomats a chance to look for non military options. I feel that dialogue between the U.S. and Syria and posibly Iran may well be in the best interest of the stability of the entire middle east.

Stephanie Heck

Huntington WV

I have recently gone to the HNN Huntington News web site to see the latest absurd ads for John Raese and his silly effort to get people to take him seriously in his efforts to get rid of Senator Byrd. John Raese has political ads all over the HNN website. On the front page of HNN there is a political ad picture of John Raese with a shotgun slung over his shoulder saying "West Virginia Needs A New Gun in Washington".

John Raese does not have the intellectual depth to understand that the old "Byrd Gun" is still very accurate and still has the capacity to nail a few Republican varmint's in the course of upholding the Constitution and the rules of the Senate. I am trying to figure out if John Raese is smart enough to figure it out that his gun-toting ad carries several different potential meanings to the intelligent observer. The first thing that comes to mind is the photograph of Hiram Lewis sitting in Saddam's throne with a rifle in hand. These pictures of gun toting Republican Senate candidates gets very old, very quick, after being bombarded with Hiram Lewis's self professed war hero status during the primary. Is John Raese following Hiram's media style lead due to a lack of imagination in his own staff? Some would see this John Raese advertising faux pas as a blatant appeal to the hillbilly stereotype of the "Jed Clampett" mentality that is alleged to be factual by those political miscreants outside of this beloved state of West Virginia who very wrongly attempt to promote propaganda conveying the allegation that Senator Byrd as an over-educated redneck. Senator Byrd is a law school graduate. This gun toting political ad reminds me of something Hiram Lewis or Don Blankenship would do.

Some would see John Raese in this shotgun toting political ad, as doing a Charlton Heston style NRA impersonation in this political ad. This would indicate to the intelligent voter that John Raese is vastly out of political touch with the modern political landscape in West Virginia. John Raese has made admission that he is a Reagan style Republican and that he freely admits that he has no modern role mode for his politics, and that his closest political role model is from the politics of 25 years ago. If John Raese has a West Virginia role model for his politics in election 2006, he certainly has not gone public with it. I believe his model to be himself.

I remember how West Virginians did without during the Reagan years and I perceive the Raese camps Retro-conservatism to more of a threat to the constitutional rights and economic progress of Americans than any other school of thought.

Democrats acknowledge that Senator Robert C. Byrd IS THE ROLE MODEL for several generations of West Virginia democrats and election 2006 is not going to change that. Senator Robert C. Byrd is not a wealthy man and John Raese is very wealthy. You don't get rich in public service for 60 years. John Raese has mote money than Senator Byrd has ever owned because the service of the state and nation is all that Bob Byrd has ever done. As I look at that absurd gun toting political ad on the HNN website, I see a rich guy playing armed hillbilly with a gun. In the act of appealing to negative stereotypes, John Raese is inadvertently becoming the stereotype. My mind wanders back in media history to another era where I clearly see the precedent for John Raese candidacy, There was once a Reagan era family values TV show called the Duke's of Hazard and John Raese reminds me of a big money version of "Boss Hogg".

Maybe this armed ad on the HNN website is John Raese's way to trying to remind us of of the time VP Chaney shot one of his lawyer buddies on a hunting trip? Republican politicians should not play with guns in close proximity to lawyers according to the bar association instruction manual for evading buckshot. Is this indicative of the candidates position on tort reform? Will someone please tell John Raese to get a clue and learn that gimmick ads and guns don't mix. John Raese needs to lay off the gimmicky ads and stick to statements of substance.

John Raese should seriously contemplate learning to play the fiddle...and he might go somewhere.

Here in Huntington West Virginia, otherwise known as 25701, we are having an extremely hot summer. I am thinking in terms of record heat. Those that deny the existance of global warming and side with those in the Bush Administration who dismiss global warming as junk science should spend the summer here in 25701 before going straight to hell.

A little note on my effort in the field off Computer Technology. I have been doing a lot of search engine optimization work recently (SEO). This is where I take a web page with little or no traffic and optimize it for the search engines to be more visible to the intended audience. It is a sub specialty of webmaster work which I am widely known for. If you need this done for your website contact me and we will see what you need to get the traffic you deserve.

http://feeds.feedburner.com/huntington

A Local News and Political Commentary Blog in Huntington West Virginia, Politics and political news in Cabell County Huntington West Virginia WV 25701, Blogging in Huntington West Virginia. News on Election 2006 211

I have changed this Huntington West Virginia blog a little bit, I will be blogging more about politics and political news about the West Virginia politics of election 2006 in West Virginia, I have a great interest in the politics of election 2006, especially the race between that right wing loon John Raese and the senior legend of the Senate Robert C. Byrd. Election 2006 should be interesting from a political point of view. There should be a lot of local news on that race over the next few months.

 I am just a West Virginia blogger with a West Virginia website with an interest in putting a little politics and political commentary on my blog web site. Cabell County blogs are rare and scarce commodities even to a webmaster and computer programmer like myself. I will be writing on the topics of Huntington West Virginia News on Election 2006 from the middle of good old 25701.

Hopefully business will pick up in the aftermath of the election 2006 politics here in Huntington West Virginia.

It seems that North Korea has today test launched a long range Missile, and several other short range missiles. They launched these missiles today within a few minutes of the U.S. launch of the Space Shuttle. North Korea has definite possession of long range missile technology, and North Korea is suspected by numerous weapons expert to have a very small number of nuclear weapons.

I feel that North Korea is a far more dangerous threat to the United States security than any potential threat posed by Muslim Terrorists. Leader Kim Jong IL is the paranoid leader of a Stalinist type communist country, and North Korea as a country runs more like a cult than a nation. Leader Kim Jong IL of North Korea is more like a cult leader than a head of state. Leader Kim Jong IL of North Korea is so far out in left field, that he makes other dictators look mild in contrast.

It came as a major surprise this last week in Cabell County when Richard Jefferson, the former Superintendent of Cabell County Schools and former principal of Barboursville Middle School pleaded guilty in Cabell County Circuit Court to soliciting a minor 14 year old girl for sex over the Internet. His sentencing hearing is pending before the court. Mr Jefferson is retired from the school system and earned a pension before becoming a convicted felon. There have been quite a few people in this area including many associated with the Cabell County Board of Education who have a severe case of shock and disbelief over this situation.

To quote one retired educator, "He pleaded guilty and I still do not believe it. how could this sort of thing happen here? If it were not for my total disbelief I would be outraged."

There are several people within the community who wonder if the retired Cabell County superintendent will be allowed to keep his pension. I am not qualified to address the issues of Mr. Jefferson's pension because I am not a lawyer. I certainly think he deserves some jail time as he has pleaded guilty to a felony charge.

However the issue of pension entitlement by a convicted felon is at variance from state to state and I do not know West Virginia's position on this issue. To remove someones pension for an act committed long after the pension was lawfully secured via the longevity of the completed employment contract seems to me to be a bit odd. West Virginia's state constitution mandates uniform application of laws, and any law that places special duties or good conduct obligations on retirees that are not applicable to the general population is not uniform in application. I am not for Jefferson as I think he deserves to go to jail, however I am pro senior citizen. I have severe constitutional questions about using anyone's pension or retirement fund as a de facto bond for good behavior after retirement. I think this poses an undue burden on senior citizens that is not applicable to the general public. In absence of a statute mandating forfeiture of retirement benefits by convicted felons. I believe that Jefferson will keep his pension while in jail but most likely it will go to his family in a fiduciary capacity. The funds of incarcerated inmates are customarily managed by the spouse or attorney for the inmate.

Stephanie Heck

Problem: The Huntington City Mission caters to a large number of vagrant people in Huntington who frequently panhandle downtown for beer money, and create an environment that is not conducive to business. They have been known to turn Riverfront park and Ninth Street Plaza into the "Wino's hall of fame" at times.

Solution: I advocate enforcement of existing laws for those Huntington City Mission Wino's who constitute a danger to themselves or others via substance abuse. Court ordered detox and drug treatment is an option to prevent the Huntington city missions homeless alcoholics from laying in their own puke on the steps of the library. This will get the obnoxious panhandling drunken bums off the plaza to some degree.

Problem: I resent the Huntington City Mission for ENABLEING substance abuse by helping people who wont help themselves. There was a time that the local merchants donated to the mission because they DID keep the bums off the street, however federal grants for homeless shelters makes it profitable to enable vagrancy so the motivation is gone to accommodate the local community.

Solution: Help those willing to help themselves and give the rest of them the boot or a bus ticket to get the hell out of here.

Problem: Detroit sends us dope dealing bums to Huntington WV and some of them have stayed at the mission in the past.

Solution: We need to seriously contemplate sending the bums at he Huntington City Mission to Detroit. This is merely a ploy to bring the attention of Federal officials to the problem we have in Huntington with out of state drug dealers. We need to send Detroit panhandling alcoholic bums in return for their kindness in sending us drug dealers. I see it as fair trade.

Problem: The people at the mission are uneducated and ignorant.

Solution: Those that can be educated can be kept off the street with MANDATORY basic literacy classes during business hours, and that will prevent much of the problems in downtown Huntington. Some of them might even get their GED. The college of eduction at Marshall University could send a few student teachers to give them some classroom experience. This is common sense but I doubt the Huntington City Mission management sees it.

Problem: The people of Huntington believe that the people at the Huntington City mission do not want to help themselves by working.

Solution: The Huntington city mission can create a list of public service projects to give something back to the community. If a man is capable of doing something productive and he has no job, then by all means give him the dignity of some work by letting him do something productive rather than feel worthless.

If the Huntington city mission sent 20 SOBER men over to Riverfront park to pick up all the litter and cigarette butts, I would be forced to change my mind about the city mission. If the city mission management would do something constructive with those people during business hours that kept all the bums off the street, I might see them as socially responsible. The city mission needs to put those bums to work doing something constructive or get rid of them. There is a big difference between helping someone down on their luck end enabling social problems. I resent the Huntington city mission for ENABLEING substance abuse by helping people who wont help themselves.

Problem: Some of the people at the Huntington city mission are too sick or too old to work.

Solution: The Huntington City Mission is not licensed to be a nursing home. Those that are too old or too sick to work or learn could be referred to social workers to tailor a solution to the individual.

Historical Context: Many years ago the state hospital used to let the patients run loose up on twentieth street hill and many of them had problems with alcohol and drugs. Then the management of the state hospital changed and more socially responsible programs were instituted to provide life skills training and vocational training to those who could learn. The problems that the state hospital created for local law enforcement diminished because the demented patients were busy doing something constructive rather than running loose making trouble. If only history would repeat itself at the Huntington City Mission.

Observation: Many of the people currently at the mission would have been in the state hospital 25 years ago because the laws have changed to the point that psychotic substance abusers have more rights than conventional working people. Some people may not agree with my position but at least I am thinking about a solution rather than gripe about the problem.

Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia today becomes the longest serving United States Senator in American History this day. Senator Byrd has set the Senate Record. Byrd has been in the Senate since 1958. For a total of 17,327 days in Senate office serving West Virginia. Senator Byrd has dedicated his entire adult life to the service of the constitution and the state of West Virginia. I intend to vote for Byrd to hold the Senate seat as long as he desires to stay in politics. Congratulations Senator Byrd!

Some people suffer Internet addiction to message boards and chat rooms in much the same way that some co-dependent people wrap themselves up in the life of another person. Message board addiction is a form of group codependency mixed with a touch of Internet obsession in my opinion. Internet addiction and obsession seems to manifest itself differently in males and females.

The Males tend to suffer addiction or become obsessed with porn websites. When men get emotionally addicted it seems to be almost always over sex or vehicles or animate or inanimate object of desire. With men addiction and obsession seems to center around lust of some type in my observations. This is especially true of younger males.

Obsession with online shopping is very common among middle and upper class women. If you guys don't believe that, then turn your wife's shopping addiction loose with your credit card on e-bay or the home shopping club network website and you will get the point when you get the bill. In reality and from a programmers perspective, online shopping websites are merely message boards with pictures of merchandise and buttons that take you to a credit card page.

Working class single Women generally tend to get obsessed to the point of emotional addiction with chat rooms or message boards because the interactive group dynamics are different and less political than groups in the physical realm, and they do offer a way to network with others. This is particularly true of single women who being lonely, create an online family of sorts to self validate as member of a network of support that may not exist in the real world.

Nowhere is Internet addiction worse than among middle class teenage girls who are very emotionally isolated and in need of support from friendly community of sorts, that is sometimes found online. If you are a teacher, you need to be aware of this so that you will recognize the symptoms and refer to guidance counselors. With thee girls they tend to use the computer as an escape from the stresses of teenage life and the biological stress of puberty.

Some people post inflammatory and hateful things in chat rooms and on message boards as self appointed guardians of the online group that has become the thinly veiled focus of their addiction / obsession and this is disturbing to those who do not understand the nature of Internet addiction. If someone Else's website is making a person get so profoundly wound up that they are being hateful to another human being, then perhaps they need to contemplate whether or not it is time to log off for a while until the real world common sense composure overcomes their online persona. Rational people in the full possession of their dignity do not get enraged at persons they have never met. The online persona is sometimes prone to overload their real world common sense in an Internet addict and this is where fantasy and reality part company in Internet addiction. The Internet offers people with Internet Addiction the ability to cloak themselves as the person they would like to be as opposed to the person that they really are, and this is where there is not much connection to truth and reality.

The advent of the computer age has created new challenges and new types of addiction, obsession, and emotional disturbances that we would have never dreamed of 20 years ago. Information technology is giving us new insight into ourselves but why should that surprise us? Every biology and anatomy book tells us that the human brain is a biological computer, and therefore logic tells us that human group dynamics are the result of a network between biological computers between our ears. There are two types of people who have an intense understanding of Internet addiction, and one is a mental health professional with modern training, and the other is an Internet professional who has seen it all online. Expertise can be established by empirical experience or academics because the problem is so new that the academic literature and documentation is to some degree sparse.

I am not a shrink, just a dumb programmer who has far more contextual insight than some think I do.

Stephanie Heck

The West Virginia Primary Election 2006 is now over, and the November General Election 2006 is now before us, and the US Senate Race is before US, We the people are allowed a choice. The WV US Senate Election 2006 offers us two choices. John Raese who is such a state of stark raving republican mania that he is under the delusion that he is qualified to replace Byrd in the WV race for US Senate Election 2006 . We also have the choice of a well known commodity Robert Byrd. John Raese is involved in the West Virginia Radio Corporation that owns quite a few far right wing radio stations throughout the central part of the State of West Virginia. John Raese also owns the Morgantown Newspaper to my understanding. I seriously wonder if John Raese will exploit his media holdings against senator Byrd.

WV US senate election 2006 offers us the choice of voting for Senate Incumbent Robert Byrd D - WV who is the most senior democratic WV legend in the Senate, or John Raese. The Election revolves more around economics than anything. Robert Byrd has acted in the Senate to bring a huge amount of Money into West Virginia, and that money creates a huge amount of construction and badly needed jobs in the state of WV that only a senior US Senate representative can manage to bring home.

John Raese does not have the intelligence or understanding of economics to comprehend that West Virginia gets such a big chunk of the federal pie is because WV has two very powerful senior members of the US Senate representing this state of WV. This is why John Raese would make a poor senator because he does not understand all the economic good that Byrd has done. The federal funds acquired by Robert Byrd for this states medical schools have to no small degree expanded rural health care in this state. John Raese has no known track record in projects that are beneficial to children and most certainly not on that scale.

 John Raese must understand that the WV US Senate Election 2006 will hinge on the politics of economics because pork is very big money. Republican candidate John Raese will no doubt offer a right wing ideology and rhetoric that is a very poor substitute for the gigabucks that come to this state as the result of the senate seniority held by Senator Byrd. Raese can certainly accuse Byrd of cornering the market on Pork,

John Raese claims that he is a Reagan style Republican, and in this state of WV that is the kiss of death because West Virginia and its economy starved to death during the Reagan Era and many voters will remember that during the WV Senate Election 2006, and remember it well to the detriment of John Raese. Reagan was not good for WV and John Raese knows it. The only people who believe that propaganda are the brainwashed members of the Rush Limbaugh fan club, and hate radio addicts.

The WV US Senate Election 2006 will give US a choice to determine if we wish to throw away a huge amount of federal money and jobs for this state in favor of a tired and outdated Reagan Era ideology offered us by John Raese. Big money and jobs mean progress and it is sheer republican insanity to promote outdated neocon ideology over big money garnered by the efforts of Byrd in the Senate and this will influence votes in the WV Senate Election 2006 and John Raese knows it.

Senator Byrd is doing a wonderful job, I assume, watching John Raese make a total idiot of himself in a vain self centered and futile attempt to unseat the Senates Senior Democratic Legend. It is total insanity for John Raese to suggest that anyone can bring home more bacon than Robert Byrd. Be advised that Robert Byrd is big money industry in this state and it is a matter of good economics to see it continue in the aftermath of the WV US Senate Election 2006. It is crazy for West Virginia to even contemplate throwing away a senior member of the Senate in favor of a untried newcomer like John Raese, because there is no possibility that John Raese can outperform a senior member of the Senate as long as the US Senate runs on seniority in its rules and power structure. I don't want this state to shoot itself in the foot with the help of John Raese, as far as the ability of Robert Byrd to bring home federal money to WV. Robert Byrd does bring home the bacon and that is why everything you can think of is named after him. That is exactly why everyone votes for him and John Raese is obviously not bright enough to understand that. Robert Byrd is going to spank John Raese in the coming general election.

In an economic context John Raese is bad for business in WV, and the fact is that the Senate runs on seniority makes it absolutely impossible for any freshman senator to be as productive as a senior member, and therefore I intend to cast my Ballot for Robert Byrd in the WV US senate election 2006 as a matter of logical politics and a matter of the best economic interest of this beloved state of West Virginia. The republicans under the influence of John Raese yell and gripe about Robert Byrd and PORK but the have no answer for the question of: Hey John Raese, kindly tell us, wheres the beef? We really hope John Raese is not chicken to answer this meaty question.

I will vote for Robert Byrd in the WV US Senate Election 2006 because I desire to prevent John Raese from bringing back an outdated Reagan Era mentality that has harmed this state in the past. I intend to endorse the efforts of Byrd in the WV US senate election 2006 . The man has served this state with distinction and most likely will die in office rather than take a well deserved retirement. That is called self sacrifice and that concept is far beyond the understanding of the GOP. Senator Robert Byrd has more than atoned for the racial sins of his youth. When president Kennedy said, "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country." Bob Byrd listened.