Date: February 12th 2009

(You have received this message as you have previously joined or requested to join our mailing list. Information, including unsubscription instructions and our physical mailing address and phone number are located at the bottom of this message) THOUGHTS ON ABC's 20/20 'A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains' ON FRIDAY NIGHT FEB 13th 10 p.m. DIANE SAWYER, I AM TOLD, IS HEADING IT UP. IT SPEAKS OF PROBLEMS IN APPALACHIA [APPLE-LATCH-AH]. IT MIGHT BE INFORMATIVE FOR ANY OF YOU WHO WOULD BE INTERESTED. I WAS TOLD IT GOES FOR THE JUGULAR IN REGARD TO POVERTY WHICH RESULTS IN A CERTAIN SLANT IN OUR REGION. ONE OF THE MANY SLANTS IS: THERE WAS A CERTAIN PAIN KILLER WAS PASSED OUT IN LARGE DOSES BY THE NAME OF 'OXYCONTIN' IN THE COAL FIELD BECAUSE OF THE CHRONIC BACK PROBLEMS FROM WORKING UNDERGROUND. IT IS EXTREMELY ADDICTING AND SPREAD OUT VERY QUICKLY IN THIS WHOLE REGION. OF COURSE IT IS BAD "EVERYWHERE". YOU WOULD OR WILL HAVE TO HAVE SOME MORE FACTS TO MAKE THAT JUDGEMENT. WHAT CAN BE QUICKLY DISCERNED IN THIS WHOLE REGION IS: "DESPAIR AND DEPRESSION" IMMEDIATELY. IT IS HERE IN THESE MOUNTAINS FILLED WITH 'INNOCENT BEAUTY' JUST AS MUCH IN THOSE STRIP MINING REGIONS WHICH WERE TURNED INTO 'MOONSCAPES' LITERALLY. 'MOUNTAIN TOP REMOVAL NEVER TO RISE AGAIN' IS THE CONSTANT. I HAVENT SEEN THE 20/20 SHOW, OF COURSE, BUT I WILL JUST TRY TO SET UP A ONE PERSPECTIVE FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF SOMEONE WHO WAS BORN AND LIVED HERE ALL HIS LIFE. WHETHER IN THE GHETTO OR IN THE APPALACHIAN REGIONS, IT IS THE CONSTANT FEELING OF POWERLESSNESS. AS HANK WILLIAMS' SONG: "AINT NOTHIN NEVER GONNA BE ALRIGHT NOHOW". SO REMEMBER, THOSE FROM THE APPALACHIAN REGION WHO HAVE MARKETABLE VALUE IN THE "OUTSIDE WORLD", HAVE MOSTLY MOVED ON. THE POWER AND MONEY HUNGRY HAVE STAYED BEHIND OR MADE A PILGRIMAGE IN, TO EXPLOIT AND PUT NOTHING BACK. THOSE NATURAL RESOURCES ARE COAL, OIL, GAS, TIMBER AND IN RECENT YEARS IT IS THE "MOUNTAIN CULTURE"; ALL GOES OUT AND NOTHING IS PUT BACK. IF YOU DO WATCH 20/20, YOU WILL SEE A THIRD WORLD NATION WHICH IS THE RESULT OF COLONIALISM. THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE MONEY SYSTEM WHICH CONTROLLED BY OUTSIDE INTERESTS. SO IF YOU SEE FOLKS WHO ARE IN DOWN IN HARD SCRABBLE POVERTY, PLEASE DO NOT CONDEMN THEM; KEEP THAT FOR THE POWER STRUCTURE WHICH MAKES THESE FOLKS CAPTIVE. "OWE THEIR SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE" STILL IN THIS 21st CENTURY. JUST ENOUGH TO KEEP THEM ALIVE. THAT IS HOW PRISONS HAVE ALWAYS KEPT PRISONERS UNDER CONTROL. PLEASE DO NOT THINK TOO HARD OF THOSE WHOSE CHILDREN HAVE ROTTEN TEETH AS A RESULT OF THE "DRINK OF CHOICE" - FULL OF HUGE AMTS OF CAFFINE AND SUGAR: 'MOUNTAIN DEW'. I DONT SEE FOLKS BEING CONDEMNED FOR DRINKING 'STARBUCKS' WHICH IS FULL OF CAFFINE! YOU GET MY DRIFT; ITS ALL DRUGS. SO PLEASE DONT THINK TOO HARD OF FOLKS WHOSE HEARTS AND MINDS ARE EMPTY OF HOPE IN THIS SECULAR WORLD; WHO HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND. MANY CANNOT EVEN DREAM; WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN FACING IS A WALL BLOCKING THEM FROM THE OUTSIDE. BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER SIDE TO ANY COIN: JOHN MORRIS MENTIONED: "WE GET DISCOVERED BETWEEN 25YRS AND 50 YRS, BY FOLKS LIKE THE KENNEDY'S WHO NEEDED OUR VOTES. OR THE 'ROCKY-FELLERS' NEEDING TO GET IN THE SENATE. OF COURSE, REMEMBER THAT THE POWERFUL "BLUEGRASS" CAME FROM FOLKS OF THAT REGION. IT IS THE REAL VOCAL MUSIC OF FOLKS FROM THAT REGION WHO SPEAK OF IT. IT DOES COME FROM BABY BOOMER COLLEGE KIDS WHO WERE RAISED ON SIDEWALKS. BLUEGRASS MUSIC IS A "WAY" PUSHING THE TIMETABLE BACK, THE SO CALLED OLD TIME TRADITIONAL APPALACHIAN MOUNTAIN MUSIC WAS WHERE IT WAS INVENTED BY A PEOPLE WHO WERE "UP AGAINST IT". OLD TIME MUSIC WAS NOT FROM ENGLAND OR IRELAND NOR IN AFRICA, BUT A "COMBINATION" OF THE RHYTHMS AND TUNES FROM THOSE DIFFERENT REGIONS DOVETAILED TOGETHER. THE REAL OLD TIME MUSIC IS ABOUT A "WAY". SO IT IS THAT GENERALLY AN OPPRESSED PEOPLE ARE THE ONES WHO CAN COME UP WITH "GREAT HOMEMADE MUSIC ALL OVER THE WORLD". WHICH IS ABOUT A "WAY" THE BLACKS TOOK THAT 19th MUSIC AND CAME UP WITH "THE BLUES", "JAZZ", ETC, ETC. WHICH IS ABOUT A "WAY" THE 20/20 SHOW MAY HAVE COME FROM EASTERN KENTUCKY. AND IF IT CAME FROM "BIG MUD CREEK" OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THEN THAT WAS THE AREA WHERE JOHN AND DAVID MORRIS BAND AND I WAS PLAYING BANJO FOR THEM IN 1972 WERE WORKING ON HOLDING A "FESTIVAL". JOHN OR I CAN TELL YOU THE STORY SOME TIME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. HOPE THIS HELPS PUT A BIT OF POSITIVE LIGHT RE THINGS YOU MIGHT SEE DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF POVERTY AND HOPELESSNESS. THERE IS A WELL WRITTEN BOOK CALLED "STORMING HEAVEN" BY DENISE G_____ WHICH GOES INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE REGION, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED. DWIGHT Dwight Diller PO Bx 376 Rt 2 Bx 22 Marlinton WVa 24954 304-799-4965 -- The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list subscription: You are subscribed to the following: Yew Pine Mountain Music / Dwight Diller Email Newsletter Using the following email: example@example.com You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by clicking on the following link (URL): DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW UNLESS YOU WANT TO UNSUBSCRIBE http://www.dwightdiller.com/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/newsletter/ DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE UNLESS YOU WANT TO UNSUBSCRIBE If the above link (URL) is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire address. Some mail readers will wrap a long link (URL) and thus break this automatic unsubscribe mechanism into two lines which may not work. 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