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Yesterday this blog conveyed the news about famed moonshiner Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton (shown at right along with public defender Tim Moore) getting sentenced to 18 months in prison during a federal court hearing in Greeneville, Tennessee.

In the past 24 hours I have seen some positively unbridled fury from supporters of Popcorn Sutton, including on sites like Facebook (home to no less than three groups for people who believe the government should have left him alone to ply his trade in peace). The general consensus is that Popcorn wasn’t harming anyone, and that the federal government has set out to “make an example” out of him, lest anyone else think that they should assert some liberty on their own. There are even some individuals who are publicly suggesting that perhaps a “storming the Bastille” is in order. I’m not gonna endorse or condemn such thoughts… but I am gonna pass ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, the legendary moonshiner and genuinely unique American character, was sentenced today in federal court in Tennessee to a prison term of 18 months, after earlier pleading guilty to the charges stemming from the raid on his still last year.

And adding insult to injury, Sutton “agreed to allow his moonshining photos and videos and criminal history to be used to further the education and deterrence goals of Project Safe Neighborhoods.”

In other words, rather than praising Popcorn Sutton as the living cultural resource that he is, the sons of bastitches from the government are going to force Popcorn to go fully against his unique sense of identity. The lesson here could not be more obvious: “Conform to the state or we will hurt you.”

No, I don’t have any sympathy for those assholes. If you want to see what is destroying America, look at the ...

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Folks, please understand that I am not on a “get the ‘Church of Christ In Name Only'” binge tonight. Heck, I’ve so many projects on my plate right now that I’m pretty much relying on the reports that others have been sending me lately about the cult. Like earlier today when I posted that cult leader Johnny Robertson can’t spell worth a hoot even as he condemns preachers of other (and in my opinion, legitimate) churches in the area.

And now later this evening, it is Robertson’s chief henchman/second cousin who accompanied him from Texas, James Oldfield (heh-heh… bet y’all didn’t know that the two were related, did ya?) who is up to no good.

Who is Oldfield and the “Church of Christ” cult (remember, it’s not the real Church of Christ at all) going after this time? None other than the Salvation Army.

I came in from some ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

Moonshine legend and American original character Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton has had his sentencing delayed for the fourth time. He and his many fans (of whom I am proud to consider myself one) will have to wait until January 26th 2009 to find out what’s going to happen to Popcorn stemming from the raid by them “evil revenuers” on his ‘shine operation in Tennessee back in March. For those who are just tuning in, Popcorn Sutton – who has achieved the status of mythic hero in the world far beyond his home in Maggie Valley, North Carolina – was the target of a bust when he started an operation across the state line in Tennessee. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BOOOO!!!) caught Popcorn running three 1,000-gallon moonshine stills and immediately set out to portray him as a diabolical fiend. Nothing could be further from the ...

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A trusted source in the Raleigh/Durham area here in North Carolina called to let me know that the price of regular gasoline there is now $4.89, with premium at more than five bucks and a lot of stations limiting purchases to ten gallons. It’s also been reported that at many stations the cars are lined up to the streets.

Also, I’m now hearing that this now how gas is going for this afternoon in Greensboro (about a half-hour south of where we are) and that some stations have already run out of the precious juice.

(If you’re one of this blog’s many foreign readers, this is more or less related to Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico, although how much of this is serious distribution shortage and how much of this comes from speculators going nutzoid on the oil markets, is anyone’s guess.)

I hope this doesn’t turn into ...

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World-renowned moonshiner and American folk hero Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton (shown at left, along with one of his finely-crafted distillation apparatuses) has had his sentencing delayed until December 15th in U.S. District Court in Greeneville, Tennessee.

Popcorn Sutton, you may recall, pleaded guilty in April following a raid by them meddlin’ revenuers on his “likker makin'” operation in Cooke County, Tennessee. Widespread belief among Popcorn’s many fans (and I consider myself one of them) is that if he had stuck with brewing the “white lightning” in his hometown of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, he would still be in operation today. Crossing the state line was a big mistake and now he’s looking at a 15-year prison sentence and half-million dollar fine. Which is ridiculous because (a) Sutton is practicing a form of art that isn’t necessarily immoral, and is deeply rooted in the heritage of Appalachia, and (b) if you know ...

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It was reported earlier this week that officials here in Rockingham County, North Carolina have begun looking at the county landfill off N.C. 704 as a rich source of high-quality methane. The plan is to harvest the gas and use it for artistic uses – such as blacksmithing – and even for commercial purposes… such as “creating electricity”. All of this is supposed to help boost the local economy.

Maybe we should turn control of Rockingham County over to this guy. He seems experienced…

“Who run Bartertown?”

“MASTER BLASTER RUNS BARTERTOWN!”

Come to think of it, the way things are going lately it might not be a bad time to pop those Mad Max movies in the DVD player. Might be a good brush-up for how lousy things are getting.

I still can’t believe they’re doing this with the landfill though. I mean, with all the cows in Rockingham County, ...

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One of my all-time favorite movies, The Fugitive, came out fifteen years ago today, on August 6th, 1993.

(How much is it one of my favorites? Well, it’s on my iPod, for one thing…)

Starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive was based on the 1960s television series about Dr. Richard Kimble, a physician who is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, then escapes and goes on a cross-country search for the real killer: a one-armed man. Complicating matters is Phillip Gerard, a law enforcement agent obsessed with recapturing Kimble.

The movie took a number of liberties with the story from the television show. But it also benefited from enormous production values and a very strong cast which also included Sela Ward, Joe Pantoliano, and Julianne Moore in one of her first film roles. Also among the cast, playing Frederick Sykes (AKA “the one-armed man”) was Andreas ...

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In case anyone believed that Yours Truly had some kind of obsession about “getting” Ron Price, bear in mind that it has now been well over six months since I’ve posted ANYTHING about him. And if I never did write about him again, I would have been happy. In fact, I’ve rather enjoyed not having anything new to write about the disgraced Rockingham County Board of Education member.

Alas, all good things must come to an end.

Here now is another chapter in the bizarre and twisted tale of…

Ron Price

The last time we peered into this sordid drama, Price had dropped his lawsuit against local publisher Richard Moore and his wife for trying to hold Price accountable for all the campaign signs that Price was caught stealing on the night before the 2006 election (which saw Price taking fifth place and getting the last of the new at-large seats ...

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