2006 – Issue 6 (December)

From there, Donetta Blankenship kicks back at life. At 39, her failing liver struggles to eliminate the toxic levels of heavy metals in her system. Courage, John Wayne said, is being scared to death – and saddling up anyway. This Christmas, that’s exactly what Blankenship is doing. “With my liver problem, I just wonder if…

ftp://avweb:U9e3KxY@www.appvoices.org:21//appvoices.org/images/voice_uploads/gensing.gif Ginseng Dreams: The Secret World of America’s Most Valuable Plant. By Kristin Johannsen. 2006. University Press of Kentucky. 224 pages. $ 24.95 The rich, humus-laden hardwood forests of southern Appalachia are home to American ginseng, a bright-leaved, red-berried plant that grows wild throughout the mountains. Valued in Asia for the various health-promoting qualities of…

I only met Charles Kennedy a grand total of three times, but his recent death has shaken me as deeply as if I had known him all of my life. The first time I met him, ironically enough, was on assignment from this very newspaper. I was writing an article about Charles’ work to help…

ftp://avweb:U9e3KxY@www.appvoices.org:21//appvoices.org/images/voice_uploads/church.girl.gif Does this mean that the Bible justifies mountaintop removal mining? Not at all. Most translations of the Bible, including the the New American Standard and the King James Version, say “Every valley shall be exalted…” or “raised” — and not “filled in.” This is because the NAS and KJV Bibles are translated from the…