Milton McGregor said yesterday that Governor Bob Riley and John Tyson, the head of the Governor’s Task Force on Illegal Gambling, “are acting like a bunch of third world thugs.” That’s rich. Ousted and disgraced  Birmingham Mayor, Larry Langford won 521 jackpots between 2006 and 2008 totaling more than 1.5 million dollars at McGregor’s currently shuttered Victoryland casino. According to a witness, one August day Mr. Langford was apparently escorted to specific machines by a casino employee. The witness alleges that while she won nothing that day, Mr. Langford left with somewhere in the neighborhood of 50k dollars in his pocket. Coincidence? Mr. McGregor would have us believe just that.  If Riley and Tyson are third world thugs then uncle Milty certainly must be the real world embodiment of Tony Soprano.

If there is any profession that breeds more corruption than politics(with apologies to my office-holding acquaintances) it would likely be the career of gambling magnate. So, even if Gov. Riley and Mr. Tyson have been involved in some manner of shady dealings it would stand to reason that Mr. McGregor has likely been involved in more. Take that for what it’s worth but the plethora of movies involving crooked casino bosses can’t all be total fiction can they?

Consider that what Mr. McGregor peddles to the unfortunately gullible masses is dreams of wealth and luxury that in reality usually end up as empty gas tanks and unpaid utility bills. Promises such as this beget greed and greed begets corruption. I’ll let you use your power of deductive reasoning to figure out the rest of this equation but it ain’t exactly rocket surgery.

Seems as though I remember some old adage about what occurs when you point your finger at someone else. Maybe I just made that up, I’m not sure. Nevertheless, I hope the glass that Mr. McGregor’s house is made of is of the tempered variety. Those stones are awfully big.

I wanted to take just a minute to remind everyone of the Mardi Gras parade in downtown Wetumpka this Saturday beginning at noon. Last year the crowd was several people deep along the route as the beads and Moon Pies flew. Show up early and stake out your spot as the crowds this year promise to be even bigger than last. There will be floats, costumes, music, and beads and Moon Pies galore!

Keep in mind that this isn’t New Orleans and this Mardi Gras parade is fun for the whole family. My kids had a blast last year and have been looking forward to this year’s parade for weeks now. Shannon Fontaine and the Krewe of Toulouse have done a great job organizing and putting on this great event right here in Wetumpka. Come downtown and have a great time with the rest of the city this Saturday beginning at noon! You’ll be glad you did!

Aren’t liberals supposed to be the super intelligent, open minded, tolerant element of our society? At least that’s what they like to say about themselves. That is until someone’s views differ from theirs. Then, through organizations like the ACLU and NOW among others, they seek to discredit and silence any individual or group who dares publicly speak a word that isn’t in lockstep with their superior beliefs. This article from the Associated Press is the perfect example. A major network, CBS, actually finds itself in the odd position of being protested by the left. It feels strange for me to say this about the network that gave us the Dan Rather/President Bush fiasco but CBS got this one right. What in the world is offensive about the story of Tim Tebow? Why is it so evil to celebrate life and family? Read for yourself…CBS Urged to Scrap Super Bowl Ad With Tebow, Mom

I’m watching on Fox News, live coverage of rescue teams attempting to rescue a dog that had gotten stranded in the middle of a flooded ditch. They said they were attempting to throw a lifesaver on the end of a rope down to the dog to see if the dog could somehow hold on to it so they could pull it to safety.

I won’t expound on it right now. I can’t imagine what else I can say to more clearly state my case against the so-called “electronic bingo machines” that have become so prevalent in our state. Slot machines is what they are and anyone who says otherwise is simply is either a lawyer, a politician, a gambling magnate, or just not very bright. Last I heard, this type of gaming was illegal in the state of Alabama. But, alas, I said I wouldn’t dwell on it right now. Suffice it to say that I am happy that my state representative for the 31st district, Barry Mask, sees House Bill 154, which was passed Wednesday by the House Tourism and Travel Committee, as nothing more than a farce intended to expand casino gambling in Alabama and allow casino owners to be exempt from paying taxes.

Stay the course Rep. Mask! Fight the good fight and make us proud!

Read about this bill here and here.

You can see the bill in its entirety here.

I mentioned a week or so ago that I was making a list of things that annoyed me. As it turns out, there are a whole heckuva lot of things that bug me and I was forced to pare the list down to only a few. It’s funny how the older I get, the longer this list gets. Anyway, I thought I’d share two or three that are close to the top of the list that seem to be quite common.

Upon occasion I find myself in a convenience store buying a few items which require a bag to carry them in. Lately, I have noticed a rather disturbing trend that has caused me to simply do the best I can with just my hands, even if I have to make two trips. This trend consists of the clerk licking his or her fingers to pull the bag off of the bag holder and then licking them again to separate the top of the bag so that they can then put my foodstuffs in it. So, not only does the bag have a stranger’s saliva on it but, potentially, so do my pork skins and Milky Way! I want to say this as gently and tactfully as I possibly can…STOP DOING THAT BECAUSE IT GROSSES ME OUT!!! Some might not think this as big a deal as I do, but I have been known to throw away anything that may have come into contact with said spittle rather than risk ingesting strange slobber. I’m not a crime scene investigator, I don’t play one on TV, and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Heck, I don’t even watch CSI on TV! If the need arises for me to acquire a sample of your DNA, trust me, I’ll just ask you for it.

Another one is guys who dip snuff or chew tobacco. Not that the act of using tobacco in this way, in and of itself, bothers me. It really doesn’t. I have many, many friends who dip and/or chew. What disgusts me is the unfortunate fact that this use of tobacco requires that they carry with them, apparently everywhere, a container of their own spit. This is not a little just a small amount of spit. It’s a whole Mountain Dew bottle of spit! Sloshing around inside like some sort of bottle of vile Yoo Hoo. Sometimes they just walk right up to me at my work and put it down on the counter in front of me. This allows me to not only get a good, close look at all the tiny bits of tobacco that get caught up in the expectorating fun and stick to the inside of the bottle, but I can even catch a nice whiff of this offensive concoction. Mmm…is it lunch time yet? I’m starving!

The last thing I’ll mention here has nothing to do with bodily fluids, thankfully. I hesitate to even bring it up because I know those of you who read this blog and know me will certainly be sure to do this the next time you and I have a conversation. I believe Jerry Seinfeld referred to certain people as “close talkers.” I love to talk. I love to get in a group of people and have a conversation about most anything. As long as I get to talk some, too. What I can’t stand is when someone feels the need for the tip of their nose to be within 6 inches of my face. This unlawful invasion of my territorial air is often compounded by severe halitosis. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, my space was invaded by a friend who typically is not a close talker but has a tendency to drift in that direction occasionally. He was relating a funny story and I suppose he wanted to make sure it was between just the two of us. About three seconds into the story I was fighting for survival and couldn’t retell it today if I had to. The combination of his proximity to my face and the smell of his breath almost made me pass out. This wouldn’t have been an issue had he not been so close. He finished his story and all I could think was how I needed a can of coffee beans to sniff to overpower the noxious fumes I had inhaled. I even asked if someone close by had a lighter so that I might suck the flame up my nose to just kill off the smell-buds in my nose. It was horrible. I settled for taking a huge whiff of the hand sanitizer I carry in my pocket. Once I regained consciousness, the smell was gone.

As I said, the list of these things here in Thad-world is long. I guess I’m just a little weird that way. Maybe more than a little. Anyway, I figured I better find a stopping point lest I miss my son Gabe’s graduation in 2019. Oh, and in the words of the great Bill “Bubba” Bussey as Dippin’ Dan: “Hey, honey, could you please pass me a cup and a paper towel? I’m about to drown over here.”

That’s real nice. Governor Riley and Attorney General King can’t seem to play nice together. The governor rightly wishes to stop illegal gambling in the state. Attorney General King says that he won’t support the governor’s task force and its investigation into the Country Crossing Casino in Houston County. Each has leveled accusations at the other about conflicts of interest and who did or did not take money from gambling interests in other states. Meanwhile it’s business as usual at several casinos, both Indian and non-Indian, throughout Alabama. If these two can’t get on the same page and work for the common good of the people of the state of Alabama, what hope is there to ever shut down these illegal slot machines? Not much.

I am a college football fan. More specifically, a University of Alabama football fan. I’m not a particularly obnoxious fan, at least not around my friends who don’t share my allegiance for the Crimson Tide. Fighting has never been my forte so I’ve learned over the years that it is best to keep my mouth shut. While I am not known for my trash-talking, I am quite intense, to say the least. My wife would say that’s an understatement of epic proportions. The last three football seasons have been better, far quieter ones than the previous four were. I won’t delve into that because I’ve worked hard to keep my blood pressure down.

As I said before, intense really doesn’t begin to describe my relationship with the Crimson Tide. When your wife says, “You need to calm down, you’re scaring the kids” then you probably have an issue with getting a wee bit too involved in the game. I’ve said some horrible things to coaches, players, commentators, and especially referees.

My point is this…This 32 days of waiting between the SEC Championship game and the BCS Championship game has left me, at times, teetering on the precipice of a nervous breakdown. What sort of sense does it make for a team to go through spring practices, fall practices with two-a-days, play a 12 game season during which they attempt, week after week, to improve and fine tune their game, play in a conference championship game and then wait a dang month to play the biggest game of the season? That is asinine. It’s bad for the teams involved and it’s bad for the fans, most notably, me. With all this stress, I wouldn’t be surprised if our part-time cat, Rover, starts telling me I ought to drive to NCAA headquarters in Indiana and punch someone in the neck. That’s the kind of thing that happens when one is asked to endure this pressure for over a month.

At least now, here we are on the eve of the big day and the suffering is almost over. Whoever said this is fun wasn’t an Alabama fan. After all, football is a game. It ain’t supposed to be fun!

By Steve Pribulick


Wetumpka lost a great man today.

Not only was Chris Deputy one of Wetumpka’s Finest, he was also one of the finest in Wetumpka. True enough he was a sworn officer of the law, but he was also one of the greatest guys I have had the pleasure of knowing in a very long time. The last officer to have the ability to bridge the gaps in the community was Arthur Roberts and Chris was just as good at it if not better.

Chris had a way with the young of Wetumpka and it was evident everywhere that he went he was able to command that respect that all officers want, merely by giving the youth the respect they were seeking too. It didn’t matter if he was on patrol, at a football game, or just perusing through a local store off duty, he always had a smile on his face and a child nearby waiting to speak to him. You never heard one cross word from him, you never saw him visibly upset and I personally never heard him raise his voice about anything; even a botched football play that he wasn’t happy with.

Some years ago, Chris started something in this community that has grown each year and each year has become more and more important to the youth. He would gather toys, in most cases single handedly, and put together a Christmas party for the young kids of Wetumpka each year including food and activities. This was all done on a shoe string budget and all from the heart, his heart.

This past year the Fire Department helped Chris with this project and I had the opportunity to help him closely. Chris had just recently lost his father and this was something that was weighing heavily on his mind. As we stood there before the party talking about the passing of his father and how it was not time for that, Chris with a tear in his eye for his father told me “As soon as I see the kids, it will all be better”.

That was his thing, always thinking about the youth and how we can make the world a better and safer place for them. Just as I was about to leave the Christmas party for the kids he thanked me for the Fire Departments helped and reminded me that Relay For Life was coming up and asked about how we can start raising money. That was Chris, big hearted, big ideas, and always thinking of others. We could all stand to copy Chris a little more.

Big guy, you’re home now, Rest In Peace and take care of God’s Children. You will be missed in this Earthly world, but your work will continue.

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to those of you who read this “pathetic” blog. I greatly appreciate the encouragement from so many of you when I see you out and about here in town. I also appreciate all of you who take the time to not only read, but to respond. Even those of you who disagree with me. Heck…ESPECIALLY those of you who disagree with me. That’s what makes things interesting.

Anyway, not that anyone cares, but in the coming year I hope to write about more diverse topics, like I did earlier this year as well as have some regular entries by several other people including some of the regulars who post comments here. I really would like to cover a broader array of people and events from the River Region, so if you have any ideas you’d like to share with me about how we can broaden and improve our little place in the blogosphere just let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

Just FYI…
Since the inception of this blog back in April, there have been a little more than 40,000 page views with readers hailing from Arkansas, Illinois, Massachusetts, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Washington, Texas, California, Tennessee and of course, good ol’ Alabama among others. Thanks to all of you for making this so much fun! Please keep reading and responding!

Hope 2010 holds many blessings in store for all of you!