Lost ground
Last week in Larry Gabriel's "Higher Ground" column, we mistakenly printed that with the help of a new pot bill in Rhode Island smoking marijuana in public would now be allowed. However, the bill itself states that those smoking marijuana in an indoor public space would be guilty of a petty misdemeanor. The sentence in Gabriel's column should have read, "Smoking marijuana in public would not be allowed."
Do unto Juggalos ...
Last week in "Ask a Juggalo" we asked Vinnie the Clown about the religious aspects of the Dark Carnival. Apparently, many Juggalos also feel deep religious connections to ICP's mythos.
Reader the Captain says: I've always seen the way that ICP portrays their music as a part of the religions that aren't talked about as much. The devil (if he's real) is basically a crying little kid having a tantrum, using us to get to God because he won't acknowledge him. But during the silence the devil's put in a lot of work molding mankind for the return. There's a little talk in all the religious books about it, the kings of the king. They say when the time comes the devil will have a great influence over the majority and they'll fight against the crown believing they're not. The wicked shit, as I like to see it, is the representation of the second king, and kings that fight against it, all that needed to be said was said thousands of years ago. Now anyone who is truly close to God would be under constant attack by damn near everyone in a way that would be insane. They would hear and see shit that shouldn't be happening, but is. There's nothing more scary or wicked than a holy vengeance to those who fought against, that's how I see the religious aspect of Psychopathic and what made me love that shit. The devil will be a bringer of care and peace to trick, the king will be a crazy fuck that talks to himself. Hold your hatchet high when the fire's in the sky, together we shall die.
Reader Lily Blum says: I will never forget hearing those lyrics as a kid, well early 20s. I'm Pagan myself, but hearing ICP saying that there was spirituality behind the Dark Carnival mythos — and it was hard not to see it even before they said it — meant the world to me. My concept of deity and that of the Dark Carnival, it turned out, really wasn't so different.
Snyder snubbed
Jack Lessenberry's column about Gov. Rick Snyder also got people talking.
Reader JLCGULL says: Nowadays in Michigan, Jack, the rich-guy-controlled media report only the news that fits in with a "Dan Gilbert's Detroit" kind of reality. It seems there's a vast governmental conspiracy to foreclose upon the lives of the poor and middle class. That's not only a tragedy for Michigan. It's a tragedy for America.
Reader Edjusyou says: There goes Jack again, proclaiming the need to further enslave the middle and lower class with an increase in taxes. Snyder and the Michigan Legislature are a bunch of lying thieves. If there's money in the till for film credits and a hockey arena, there's money to fix the roads. No more tax increases in this state, not one more fucking penny.
Reader GPforLife says: Lessenberry typing his way to irrelevance, once again. Say what you'd like about Snyder, but he's the only governor in the last 15 years that's managed to get our sky-high unemployment rate to fall faster than the national average, while stemming the population exodus.
