Saturday, December 18, 2010

Columbia U. vs. You

Here's a Glenn Reynolds piece that ran in the New York Post yesterday.  I started following this attempted theft in either Reason magazine or Liberty magazine a couple of years ago.  Can't remember which. 
What does this amount to? 
If someone or some organization has enough political clout, your stuff can become their stuff. 

We often hear politicians and pundits denounce property rights. Property rights, we're told, protect the fat cats against the needs of the public. They're a tool for keeping the little guy down.

Like a lot of what we hear from politicians and pundits, this is exactly the opposite of the truth. The fat cats don't need the protection of property rights, because they already control the political system. It's the little guy (or gal), the one without political juice, who needs strong property rights for protection from the fat cats and the politicians they control.

This was demonstrated again this week, as the last legal barrier (a possible US Supreme Court review) to Columbia University's efforts to condemn and seize two businesses -- Tuck-it-Away Self-Storage and a gas station owned by Gurnam Singh and Parminder Kaur in West Harlem -- vanished.

Columbia said the condemnation was necessary to support the university's "vision" for a new campus; school President Lee Bollinger called the victory "a very important moment in the history of the university."

The picture of fascist thief Lee Bollinger came from here

It was an important, if not especially proud, moment for Columbia -- but it was surely a bigger moment in the lives of those West Harlem business owners, as their property gets taken away to promote the "vision" of what is, in fact, a multibillion-dollar corporation servicing the daughters and sons of the wealthy, the powerful and the connected.

The picture of Cowboys Stadium, built on stolen property by the City of Arlington as a gift for Jerry Jones, came from here

Traditionally, the "public-domain" power was used to acquire property needed for things like roads and bridges. It's still often defended in those terms, but the "public use" required for such takings has now been interpreted by courts to include pretty much anything the government wants to do with the property -- including handing it over to someone else who just happens to be wealthier or better-connected than the original property holder.


The picture of the Ballpark in Arlington, built on stolen property as a gift to George W. Bush, came from here. 

In this case, the government lacks even the weak excuse that the change will boost tax revenues, since -- as Megan McArdle of The Atlantic Monthly pointed out -- the property is being transferred from taxpaying businesses to a largely non-taxpaying enterprise.

Part of the American Dream was the expectation that if you started a business, you might go broke but you didn't have to worry about the government seizing your business on behalf of those with more political juice. That sort of thing was for Third World countries, corrupt kleptocracies where connections mattered more than capability.


The picture of the Bush family taking their triumphant lap around their pile of plunder during the World Series came from here.  Those with plenty of time to kill can go to this earlier post to read about how George Jr. was able to turn an $86 million dollar investment, plus a $205 million dollar taxpayer subsidy, plus a land theft, into a profit of $164 million dollars.  Kinda reminds me of the Iraq war.  Sorry for the digression.  Back to Glenn Reynolds.   

Not anymore. In fact, some of those formerly corrupt Third World countries have started providing stronger protection for private property, as they've realized that the more power you give to politicians and their cronies, the less incentive people have to try to succeed through hard work. What's the point, if you're at the mercy of the cronies?

We, on the other hand, seem to be moving backward.

The fact is the powerful and connected -- the Bloombergs, the Bollingers, et al -- don't really need strong legal protections. Nobody's going to take their property anyway. (When's the last time you heard of a rich guy's home being condemned?) For those with juice, things seldom get as far as the courts.

The courts are supposed to be there to protect the rest: The people without the connections, the ones who depend on the rule of law to keep the predators away.


Speaking of predatory courts favoring predatory developers, this is the famous "little pink house" from the Kelo vs New London court case.  Go here to order a copy of "Little Pink House: A True Story Of Defiance And Courage", by Jeff Benedict.  And once again, the villain of the story is another academic fascist, Claire Gaudiani, the president of Connecticut College. 
That protection has never been perfect, of course, but in the area of eminent domain it's become a sick joke. The message sent is that your property belongs to you -- until somebody with more clout wants it for something else, be it a "vision," or a moneymaking scheme.

Of course, this whole rule-of-law thing works both ways. Those politicians and their cronies are quick to rely on legal protections when their own interests are threatened by people outside the political system. But by undermining the property rights of the unconnected, they weaken the social contract that protects their own positions.

As with our actual currency, our political class has debased the moral currency by which it governs, as well. May they have joy of the results.

Friday, December 17, 2010

It is treason to call Wikileaks treason

Some employers want to know what they are paying their employees to accomplish. 
Others don't, and they tend to go bankrupt. 

Bearing that in mind, my friend John Jay Myers has released the definitive statement on Wikileaks. 

"It Is Treason To Call Wikileaks Treason" by John Jay Myers 

Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; Now get over it.

You might believe some speech might give away national secrets for instance how we prop up puppet dictators in foreign countries, or how we have been training troops who are now turning against us in droves, how we are supplying billions of dollars to countries who supply millions to those who want to attack us, how we back companies that supply men with young boys for sex slaves in Afghanistan. How the leaders of the countries we manipulate are now scared that we aren’t bombing Iran. Surely no one should become privy to this.

Or should they? I am shocked to realize that the American people don’t stand up and say, “Why are we putting in these puppet dictators? Why are we arming and training troops to fight us? Why are we giving billions to those who want to do us harm? Why are we pimping young boys? Why would we want to bomb Iran in the name of Saudi Arabia?

Seems to me we have an Ostrich mentality in America, Americans can choose to have information, or they can go lock step with their favorite news channel and fight for the right to keep their heads buried in the sand.

They say knowledge is power, would we rather cede that power to those who 87% of us are completely dissatisfied with. Do you really believe that in matters of foreign policy this corrupt group of ninnies somehow becomes more competent?

We have to make a choice, do we want to know these things that could save countless lives and restore America as the shining light on the hill, or should we sacrifice our greatness for what may harm a few?

I think all government correspondence that does not involve missile codes, or troop locations should be public, and any government correspondence that isn’t made public should be labeled as treason.

Wikileaks needs to be permanent, I think we should just make all government wires transparent, starting now. Tell all federal employees, “oh... by the way all of your correspondence is public, any correspondence you engage in that is "government business" not made public will be labeled as treason”.

Wikileaks would be the full body scanner for the United States government.

Were you aware that Iran was offering to help in the stabilization of Iraq and the war on terror if we would remove their name as a sponsor of terror? I was not, but thanks to Wikileaks I am .

Maybe we would consider diplomatic above board solutions rather than espionage and corporate sabotage. Maybe we would stop doing backroom deals with mega corporations like Halliburton, Lockheed Martin and BP and start dealing with other countries, their people, and let those people stand up for their own freedom, instead of being inspired to hate us, by our foreign policy of corporatism.

I imagine there is quite a bit of “small stuff”s in the 248,000 yet to be released documents that the media has not sifted through to protect the innocent, which I might add is a procedure that has happened to all 1200 of the pages released so far.

But I don’t sweat the “small stuff”, what concerns mean is the big stuff, the obvious information that reveals our government is lying in regards to how our trillion dollar foreign policy is working out. They are lying to us in regards to the actions we are taking in other countries and even lying to us in regards to whether we are violating the constitution.

If the government is involved with illegal activities than they need to exposed, no matter the cost. Wrong is wrong, and the safety of the people is no excuse for hiding illegal secrets. The more these acts are disclosed, the less likely they will occur in future.

The most disturbing factor about wikileaks is the nature of the attacks from the political class and the media, it should be startling to all of us the lengths those who are supposed to protect us will go in order to maintain a web of lies.

It could be that the most enlightening thing about wikileaks is just how anti-constitutional our leaders have become.

John Jay Myers is a small business owner from Dallas Texas, Vice-Chair of the Dallas County Libertarian Party, and member of the Executive Committee for the Libertarian Party of Texas.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

And so it begins

From National Review:

Republicans For Pork ?

Though it may contain billions worth of earmarks they requested, most Senate Republicans are outraged at the 2,000-page omnibus spending package. However, if even a few GOP Senators vote ‘yes,’ the bill would have a good chance of passing.


The prime culprits are the Republican members of the Senate Appropriations Committee (whence the pork abomination came). They are the ones most likely to be targeted, and potentially swayed, by Senate Democrats to support the bill. GOP aides are worried about these members, but are optimistic they have the votes to block the bill.

Retiring Sen. Bob Bennett (R., Utah) has already announced his intention to support the omnibus, while three others – Sens. Kit Bond (R., Mo.), Susan Collins (R., Maine), and George Voinovich (R., Ohio), who is also retiring – have said they would consider voting yes, but are currently reviewing the massive bill.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) is also “still reviewing” the package. Sen. Thad Cochran (R., Miss.) has not announced his position yet, but requested more than $560,000,000* worth of earmarks in the bill, so go figure.


Judd Gregg (R., N.H.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R., Texas) plan to vote against the package. Sens. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.), Sam Brownback (R., Kan.) and Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) are likely no’s, but their offices did not return a request for comment.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) told reporters earlier today that the omnibus represents a “consequential vote” for Republicans, and said he hoped Republicans could find the votes to defeat it. “Second acts are hard to get in life…particularly in politics,” Graham said. “We got a second lease on life… not because of anything we did, because of [the Democrats’] screw-ups, and if the first thing we do is quietly let this go through, then our second act is over before it begins.”

We can only hope that it is over quickly.  Leopards don't change their spots.
The pics came from here and here and here and here.

"We Three Kings" poster - Elvis Presley edition

From a house a couple of blocks from mine:

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

On Fort Worth's Atheist Bus Advertisements

Cowtown is going through some theological upheaval
A group called "Metroplex Atheists" has bought advertising space on city buses.  "Millions of people are good without God" is their message. 
But wait....we now have a counter message:


A group of businessmen are paying someone to follow the bus around with a counter-message, a quote that I have scoured the Testaments looking for...."I still love you." - God. 

Lord, have mercy. 
This reminds me of the Jesus Fish wars that you sometimes see on Texas highways.  In the beginning was the Jesus Fish, proudly displayed on Ford F-150 tailgates. 

Atheists sometimes responded by showing off their Darwin Fish. 
And then came this....


I don't have a dog in that fight any longer, as I am now a devotee of The Flying Spaghetti Monster.  Those of us who have been Touched By His Noodly Appendage display this on their bumpers:


The Flying Spaghetti Monster is basically a device to make fun of the conflict.

But I'm still a devotee of the Yahweh/Jesus/Holy Spirit trinitarian jumble in which I was raised.  I no longer claim that it makes a lick of sense, but I can argue its finer points until your eyes glaze over.  It is mine.
 
All of that having been said, if I were in charge of the Atheist bus ad, I would've made one little correction....

It would state "Millions of Americans are good without Gods."  Plural. 

We talk about our Judeo-Christian heritage, but I don't know any Jewish folks who claim that I honor their heritage with my Christianity. 
We talk a lot about the 3 great Abrahamic religions, but I don't know any Muslims (granted, I know less than a dozen) who claim that Fort Worth's great Rabbi Ralph Mecklenburger and I share their heritage. 

Don't get me started on my Mormon friends.  My religious tradition claims that Jesus walked on water, God made Balaam's donkey speak, and that true believers can handle snakes and drink poison without being harmed. 
Mormons, on the other hand, believe that Joseph Smith translated The Book Of Mormon by using some magic spectacles, and that you should never remove your Sacred Undergarments.  That's just crazy. 

Jews, Christians, Muslims and Mormons can all be good without believing in the same God. 

I don't remember where I first heard this, but compare it to the first 3 Star Wars movies.....

The Jews loved the first movie, but don't acknowledge the value of the next two that were released. 
Christians liked the first movie ok, but thought the second one was best.  They don't like the 3rd one at all. 
Muslims approve of the first two, but they like the third one best. 
Mormons liked the second movie so much that they started writing fan fiction about it. 

But all four tribes have produced some good folks. 

I don't know which businessmen ares paying someone to follow Fort Worth buses around town, but here is a partial list of the Gods that they don't believe in. 


Alberich
Ama-no-minaka-nushi
Ama-tsu-mara
Amaethon
Amaterasu
Amatsu
Amatsu-kami
Ame-no-mi-kumari
Ame-no-wakahiko
Amidaam-no-tanabata-hime
An
Anahita
Anat
Anath
Andhrimnir
Andraste
Andvari
Angrboda
Angus og
Ankt
Annapurna
Anouke
Anshar
Anu
Aphrodite
Apollo
Apsu
Apukohai
Arawn
Aray
Ares
Arianrhod
Artemis
Artio
Asclepius
Asherah
Ashur
Astarte
Astrild
Athena
Athirat
Athtart
Atla
Atlas
Audhumla
Ba’al hadad
Baal
Baal-hammon
Baalat
Babd catha
Bacchus
Badb
Baku
Balder
Balor
Balrama
Bast
Ba xian
Beg-tse
Bel
Belatu-cadros
Bellona
Belobog
Benten
Benzai-ten
Bergelmir
Berstuk
Bes
Beyla
Bhuvaneshwari
Bimbogami
Binzuru-sonja
Bishamon
Bixia yuanjin
Blodeuwedd
Borghild
Bosatsu
Bragi
Brahma
Bran
Branwen
Brighid
Brigit
Bris
Brono
Buddha
Bugid y aiba
Buluc chabtan
Burijas
Butsu
Bylgia
Camalus
Camaxtli
Camulus
Cariocienus
Caswallawn
Ceres
Ceridwen
Cernunnos
Cerridwen
Cerunnos
Chac
Chalchiuhtlicue
Charun
Chemosh
Cheng-huang
Chien-shin
Chimata-no-kami
Chup-kamui
Crnobog
Cupid
Cybele
Cyhiraeth
Dagda
Dagon
Dagon
Dagur
Daibosatsu
Daikoku
Dainichi
Damkina
Danu
Davlin
Dawn
Dazbog
Demeter
Dev
Dewi
Dhanwantari
Dhumavati
Diana
Diancecht
Di cang
Dionysus
Disen
Don
Donar
Dosojin
Dozoku-shin
Druantia
Durga
Dylan
Dziewona
Ea
Ebisu
Eir
Ekchuah
Ekibiogami
El
Elaine
El elyon
Elli
Emma-o
Enki
Enlil
Enyalius
Enyo
Eos
Epona
Ereskigal
Erra
Eshara
Eshmun
Farbauti
Faunus
Fenrir
Flidais
Flins
Flora
Forseti
Freya
Freyr
Frigg
Fudo
Fujin
Fukurokuju
Funadama
Futsu-nushi-no-kami
Gaia
Gama
Ganesha
Ganga
Garuda
Gauri
Geb
Gefion
Gekka-o
Geong si
Gerd
Giobhniu
Gu
Guan-di
Gun
Gwydion
Gwynn ap nudd
Hachiman
Hades
Hadur
Hai
Haniyasu-hiko
Haniyasu-hime
Hanuman
Hathor
Haulili
Haya-ji
Heimdall
Hel
Helios
Heng-o
Hephaestus
Hera
Hermes
Hermod
Hestia
Hiaka
Hiiakawawahilani
Hinakuluiau
Hiruko
Hod
Hoderi
Holler
Hoori
Hors
Horus
Hoso-no-kami
Hotei
Hsi-wang-mu
Huitzilopochtli
Hygeia
Ictinike
Ida-ten
Idun
Ika-zuchi-no-kami
Iki-ryo
Inanna
Inari
Indra
Inti
Irmin
Ishtar
Isis
Isora
Ixtab
Izanagi
Izanaki
Izanami
Janus
Jarilo
Jarovit
Jinushigami
Jizo
Jord
Jormungand
Juichimen
Juno
Jupiter
Jurojin
Juthrbog
Juturna
Kagutsuchi
Kalaipahoa
Kali
Kaluannuunohonionio
Kamado-gami
Kamapua’a
Kami-kaze
Kaminari
Kamohoali’i
Kamooalii
Kanaloa
Kanayama-hiko
Kanayama-hime
Kane
Kane-hekili
Kapo
Kapohoikahiola
Karewit
Kari
Kartikeya
Karttikeya
Kathirat
Kaupe
Kawa-no-kami
Kenro-ji-jin
Keoahikamakaua
Keuakepo
Khepri
Ki
Kiha
Kingu
Kinich ahau
Kishar
Kishi-bojin
Kishijoten
Kishimo-jin
Ko-no-hana
Kojin
Koleamoku
Korrawi
Koshin
Kothar
Koya-no-myoin
Krishna
Ku
Kuahana
Kukailimoku
Kukaoo
Kukulcan
Kukunochi-no-kami
Kuni-toko-tachi
Kura-okami
Kurma
Kuula
Kvasir
Laamaomao
Labraid
Lada
Lado
Laga
Laka
Lakakane
Lakshmi
Laran
Lares
Libintia
Lie
Liza
Llyr
Lofn
Loki
Lono
Lonomakua
Lotan
Lugh
Luna
Macha
Maeve
Magna mater
Magni
Mahulu
Maia
Manannan
Mani
Manua
Marduk
Margawse
Marisha-ten
Marowit
Mars
Maru
Marzanna
Matangi
Math ap mathowny
Matka gabia
Matka ziemia
Maui
Mawaya-no-kami
Maya
Mebd
Medb
Melqart
Menhit
Menthu
Mentu
Mercury
Mextli
Mider
Mikaboshi
Milu
Miming
Mimir
Minerva
Miro
Mithras
Mixcoatl
Miyazu-hime
Moaalii
Modi
Mokosh
Mokualii
Moloch
Monju-bosatsu
Mooaleo
Morrigan
Mot
Mummu
Murukan
Musubi-no-kami
Myrrdin
Nacon
Nai-no-kami
Naka-yama-tsu-mi
Nammu
Nanaja
Nanna
Nanse
Neith
Nemain
Nemesis
Nephthys
Neptune
Nergal
Niamh
Nikko-bosatsu
Ninazu
Ninhurzag
Ninigi-no-mikoto
Nintu
Ninurta
Njord
Nominosukune
Norns
Nott
Nut
Nyorai
Oanomochi
Odin
Ogoun
Ohkuninushi
Oho-yama
Ohonamochi
Ohyamatsumi
Okuni-nushi
Ops
Orgelmir
Oro
Osiris
Ostara
Ouli
Owatatsumi
Oyamatsumi
Pales
Pan
Papa
Parvati
Pele
Perperuna
Persephone
Perun
Phaethon
Phoebe
Phoebus apollo
Pilumnus
Pluto
Podaga
Poliahu
Pomona
Porewit
Poseidon
Proserpine
Puea
Qadeshtu
Quetzalcoatl
Radegast
Raiden
Ram
Rama
Ran
Re
Resef
Reshep
Resheph
Rhea
Rod
Rugiviet
Ryo-wo
Sabazius
Sae-no-kami
Saga
Sakhmet
Sambo-kojin
Samulayo
Sarasvati
Sarutahiko ohkami
Saturn
Segomo
Selene
Sengen
Septu
Seshat
Seth
Seti
Shachar
Shaka
Shakti
Shalim
Shamash
Shamayim
Shapsu
Shemesh
Shen yi
Shichi fujukin
Shinda
Shine-tsu-hiko
Shiva
Shoden
Shoki
Shu
Si-wang-mu
Siebog
Sif
Simargl
Sin
Sirona
Sita
Siwa
Sjofn
Skadi
Sleipnir
Sol
Stribog
Suijin
Suitengu
Sukuna-biko
Surya
Susanoh
Susanowa
Svantetit
Svarog
Svetovid
Svetovit
Syn
Takami-musubi
Takemikadzuchi
Taki-tsu-hiko
Tatsuta-hime
Tawaret
Tefnut
Tehwom
Tenjin
Teutates
Tezcatlipoca
Thanatos
The zorya
Thor
Tiamat
Tlaloc
Tonatiuh
Toyo-uke-bime
Toyouke-omikami
Triglav
Tsuki-yumi
Tu
Tu matauenga
Turris
Tyche
Tyr
Uba
Uga-jin
Uga-no-mitama
Ukanipo
Ukemochi
Ulaulekeahi
Uli
Ull
Utu
Uzume
Vali
Valkyries
Vamana
Vanir
Var
Veles
Venus
Vertumnus
Vesta
Vidar
Vishnu
Volturnus
Vulcan
Wakahiru-me
Wata-tsu-mi
Wepwawet
Wurukatte
Xipe
Xi wang-mu
Xochipilli
Xochiquetzal
Yabune
Yam
Yam-nahar
Yama-no-kami
Yamato
Yarikh
Ymir
Yu-huang
Yuki-onna
Yum kimil
Zababa
Zana
Zedek
Zeus
Zirnitra
Zislbog
Zizilia
Zroya

Millions of people, sometimes billions, are able to be "good" without bowing down to Zizilia or Zroya.  Ditto for Yahweh, Allah, or even my preferred Jesus/God/Holy Spirit.  It has taken me a long time to undestand this. 
But just for fun, just for fun....
How about we get one of my red box trucks, paint The Flying Spaghetti Monster on the side of it, and pay someone to follow the blue van which is following the city bus ?

Segregation is declining, and more bad news

First, the good news from the Christian Science Monitor:  Segregation has hit a 100 year low in most urban areas. 

"Milwaukee, Detroit, and Syracuse, N.Y., were among the most segregated, all part of areas in the Northeast and Midwest known by some demographers as the 'ghetto belt,'" according to the Associated Press. "On the other end of the scale, cities that were least likely to be segregated included Fort Myers, Fla., Honolulu, Atlanta and Miami."

and....

It isn't that the North, which has lagged behind the South and West in integration rates, has dramatically different attitudes on race. Rather, new housing and job opportunities in the South and West have helped to spur integration there.


So perhaps we should stop worrying about racial quotas, set-asides, race-based Gerrymandering and then move toward a colorblind society? 
Naw.  Some people believe that we should continue as we are.  Not everyone sees desegregation as a good thing.  Check out this glorious paragraph, which someone actually typed with his own fingers, with no hint of irony:

Moreover, a more integrated America makes upcoming redistricting battles, especially in the growing South, more complicated. Federal courts have a civil rights mandate to protect minority voting power, which tends to help Democrats, but such court orders may become more difficult to enforce in places such as urban Atlanta, where blacks and whites increasingly live next door to one another.


Say that a state has 5 congressional districts, and this imaginary state has a 20% minority population.  The current laws demand that the state carve a racial ghetto into their district map, one that will link most of the minorities together. 
Doing this does NOT guarantee minority representation in Congress.  It merely guarantees that there will always be one racial minority Congressman who is always outvoted by four white guys who don't have to give a shit about the small number of racial minorities in their districts. 

Check out the bizarre configurations these guys are putting themselves through to guarantee that voting districts will remain tribalized:


Wouldn't it be really cool if politicians had to worry about all kinds of people in their districts, instead of concerning themselves with only one tribal group in their Gerrymandered districts?   Who do you want a Congressman to represent:  your race or your neighborhood ? 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

"The Liberty Papers" on The Law Of Unintended Consequences

Good stuff here on The Law Of Unintended Consequences. 
It all reminds me of Thomas Sowell's life mantra:  "All government programs should be evaluated by the incentives they create, not by their stated goals." 

Go here to see their Top Ten Posts, selected from their 5 years of blogging.  Good stuff from The Liberty Papers.  Worth bookmarking for later reading. 

Monday, December 13, 2010

Help make more politicians cry

Go here to witness John Boehner crying on CBS.  Probably because if there are any more boehnks to be boehled out, it will be perceived as his fault.  I couldn't find a YouTube, and the enbed link wouldn't copy.  My apologies. 


Here's some video of Hillary shedding some tears for the folks back home, just to show how much she really cares:



Here's Bill Clinton at Ron Brown's funeral.  Woolgathering and giggling.  Then realizing he's on camera.  Then turning on the waterworks, hitting his mark PERFECTLY ! 



Here's Obama, having programmed his neural interface to display emotion....



And here's Joe Biden, exploiting the deaths in his family to good effect IN THE DEBATES !



Finally, here's Reason magazine, putting out a heartfelt appeal for your dollars.  Not enough politicians are crying.  Can't you give more? 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Tater Red's

One tenth of the survivors of my high school graduating class (North Sunflower Academy, 1979) had a reunion in Memphis during Thanksgiving. 
That means there were three of us. 
One of the high points was a visit to Tater Red's Lucky Mojos and Voodoo Healings on Beale Street. 


It turns out that Tater Red is none other than Leo Allred, another graduate of North Sunflower Academy.  Leo was two or three grades ahead of us at NSA.   


That's Leo on the left, then my friend Tricia's popular dress with Tricia inside it, then me, and my friend Henry is on the right.  Those are autographed drum heads on the ceiling.  Posters and autographed Blues/Rock memorabilia are on the back wall.  The aura coming off my forehead is not a sign of balding, but of my entry into Blues-Rock Geek Heaven. 

Tater Red's has now joined John Evans' Lemuria Books as one of my favorite places in the South.  Leo sells a unique assortment of T-shirts, books, stickers, guitar picks, autographed memorabilia, bizarre Mojo spells, curses, amulets, icons and posters and just...stuff. 
Imagine the polar opposite of a generic suburban Starbucks, Best Buy, or Target. 


Do you need a Mojo Hand?  Leo has them for sale. 

How about an authentic Voodoo doll?  Tater Red's is the only place to go. 

If you can't imagine why anyone would want a Mojo Hand or Voodoo paraphernalia, just listen to Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Lightnin' Hopkins for 30 years and get back to me. 

Do you need an Aquarian Tarot Deck, one that you've sought for years, but have never seen for sale in Dallas/Fort Worth?  And do you want to purchase it at a 33% North Sunflower Academy Graduate Discount?   Leo is your man. 

Hey, very few people still believe in any of this stuff.  But you're from the Mississippi Delta, you also know that you can't be too careful.... 


....and if you grew up on a Mississippi farm that was exactly halfway between Highway 61 (as in Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited") and Highway 49 (as in Howlin' Wolf's "Highway 49" - "I'm gonna get up in the morning, hit the Highway 49"), it's not every day that you'll get a chance at a Photo Op like this one. 


You can hit this link to read a glowing tribute to Leo, his love of music, his friendship with Stevie Ray Vaughan, and everything else that's great about Leo Allred's wonderful patch of Beale Street real estate in Memphis, Tennessee.  This was written by Robert Tooms of AmeriBlues News and it just might be the best tribute to a NSA graduate ever written.  Here's an excerpt:
This paragraph by Robert Tooms of AmeriBlues News turns out to be copyright protected, Dang it.  Therefore I can't copy and paste it, and I'm not about to re-type the whole thing.  Trust me.  Hit that link.  Read some more about Leo and his store.  Then go to Memphis.  Go into Leo's store, fully prepared to be amazed.  Note to Robert Tooms: turn off the copyright protection on your website, and more people will spread your writing around.
Sorry to put you through all of that.  Hope you'll hit that link anyway.  It's good stuff with great (copyright protected) pictures.

Leo, it was great seeing you again.  You growed up good ! *

The pics of Tater Red's merchandise came from the stores's website.  The picture of the store exterior came from Flickr
* The "You growed up good !" quote was originally directed from Leo toward Tricia's red dress.