Dale and Katherine let Vince clip some thyme from their herb garden a few minutes ago. This is going in the pot roast that has been slow cooking in the crock pot all day. Hungry?
Some of the eggs from next door went into these blue berry muffins this afternoon. We also added whey protein to give them each 10 grams of protein. We ate 6 of the eggs this morning for breakfast.
The first Don Juans we planted have now reached the top of the arbor on the side of the house. That's over seven feet tall. Here is a spray of roses on the top run.
When I got home, one of our next door neighbors brought over some promised "free range" eggs from her friend in Thompson Station. We had given them some tomatoes the other day from our garden.
Vince holds some tomatoes that came out of the garden this evening. Since the last water bill was so outrageous, we're watering the lawn about every two days. That should cut our consumption in half if we continue to get so little rain.
Readers may be curious to know that GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson's prayer force has reached 61 members statewide. An excerpt from yesterday's email "prayer alert" asks the almighty not just to "undergird" the candidate, but also to strengthen the "prayer force" too: [God Bless Him - Pith In The Wind - 07-25-06]
The family of Michael Monfee has seven days to find $5,000, or the 21-year-old man could die.
Michael's grandmother, Karla "Rosie" Morgan, and Michael's aunt, Anna "Marian" Dunkerson, both of Murfreesboro, got the news Thursday from Vanderbilt Medical Center officials. The funds must be in his pharmaceutical account at the hospital before a potentially life-saving bone marrow transplant can be performed, they said.
"I don't know how to get it," said Morgan, 71. "It's a sad problem." [Lifesaving marrow transplant would be costly - Daily News Journal - 07-25-06]
Here are some remedies offered this morning from a few local bloggers.
To Ease The Pain
I haven't smoked pot in many years, but I believe I would be a lot healthier if I smoked a joint for my rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, ruptured discs in my neck and anxiety than the prescribed medicines I take for these conditions. [If A Joint Had Pfizer Written On The Side, Pot Would Be Legal - Sharon Cobb - 07-25-06]
To Protect Yourself
It almost smells like black jelly beans, but not as strong and not sweet. At least on me, that's what it smells like. I didn't notice that smell at all in the jar. In the jar, it smells slightly of baby oil. [The Protection Oil - Tiny Cat Pants - 07-25-06]
To Strengthen Family
I pick my son up from daycare, we go home and I take him out of his car seat and for 15 minutes we just sit in the bed and talk and talk and talk. He wil giggle,coo, giggle some more and just stare at me. It is 15 minutes that make the highlight of my day, every day. [The Best 15 Minutes - Big Joe On The Go - 07-25-06]
To Save Teenage Girls
As threatened, Billie Frist will hold a senate vote today on the Child Custody Protection Act, aka the Teen Endangerment Act. If the Teen Endangerment Act passes, it will be a federal crime for someone other than a parent to accompany a teen, in search of an abortion, across a state border - unless the teen has complied with onerous state parental-involvement laws. [Frist Hopes To Endanger Teen Girls - Tennessee Guerilla Women - 07-25-06]
The following story comes via Bill Hobbs. This is an outrageous violation of both the letter and spirit of laws protecting open and transparent government in the state of Tennessee. Corker is the likely Republican candidate to run against Democrat Harold Ford Jr. for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's open Senate seat. Democrats should join conservative voices who are demanding these records be produced.
Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker's official e-mails are missing from the city of Chattanooga and may have been stolen, according to city officials and a police report. The e-mails, contained on a compact disc, were discovered missing after the campaign of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bryant sought to obtain them last month through an Open Records Act request, officials said.
Mr. Bryant, Mr. Corker and Van Hilleary are seeking the Republican Senate nomination in the Aug. 3 primary election. The request for the e-mail was made as researchers from the Bryant campaign comb through Corker-era city documents, including audits. [Corker e-mails missing - Chattanooga Times Free Press - 07-22-06]
I'm bossy
I'm the first girl to scream on a track
I switched up the beat of the drum
That's right i brought all the boys to the yard
And that's right, i'm the one that's tattooed on his arm
I'm bossy
I'm the chick y'all love to hate
I'm the chick that's raised the stake
I told young stunna he should switch debate
I'm back with an 808 cause i'm bossy
Just a few posts from local bloggers I found myself reading all the way through. Oh, if posts had calories!
To B. or Not To B. - Y'all, can I tell you something stupid and you promise not to laugh? I'm a little scared. I'm used to my life being at a certain level of shittiness, where we can't have things too nice or do things too nice or be too nice to each other or it's like we're tempting the gods to squat down and take the biggest shit on us they can. [I'm Not COmplaining, But I'm Disconcerted - Tiny Cat Pants - 07-24-06]
MySpace Stalker - You see, I've developed a routine. I ignore her 4 to 5 calls every other night, and then, the next morning, I delete her 2 to 3 myspace emails without reading them. (Myspace email allows the sender to see whether their message has been read or is unread.) This morning, I logged in and I see that she has this picture as her new profile picture. Today's subject line: HELLLLLLO??? [Myspace Down, Again - Thursday Night Fever - 07-24-06]
Are You Ready? - Steven are you ready? Are you ready for your new life covered in the precious blood of the Lamb? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? [The Baptism - The-Skew - 07-24-06]
Some things I read this morning that people said. Drama queens.
"She's OK. She's fine," pageant representative Lark Anton told Reuters. "She got dizzy. Its very hot up here. Her dress is tight - as you could see it was beaded and heavy. She passed out." [Miss Puerto Rico crowned Miss Universe, collapses - Reuters - 07-24-06]
"He never got within 20 feet of me," Olbermann told the Television Critics Association's summer meeting Saturday. "I swear to God, every time I looked up, he would suddenly look down. He was staring over at me. But we're about the same height, so I really don't think he's going to come talk to me. If I were about a foot shorter, I'm sure there would be a confrontation of some sort." [Olbermann Dons O'Reilly Mask at TV Meeting - AP - 07-23-06]
"I told the nation, as each state went after these laws, that if the day came that they got in our way, that we would sue them," said Phelps's daughter Shirley L. Phelps-Roper, a spokeswoman for the church in Topeka, Kan. "At this hour, the wrath of God is pouring out on this country." [ACLU Sues for Anti-Gay Group That Pickets at Troops' Burials - WashingtonPost - 07-23-06]
We found these jars of human teeth for sale today at the Nashville Flea Market on the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. The booth's proprietor told us he got the teeth from a 90 year old retired dentist in Hohenwald, TN who has 3 gallons of them. When I asked him whether anyone buys them, he told me he's sold about a gallon of teeth.
Here is another nice picture from Kerry Woo's blog featuring a few local bloggers that got together at the Mothership yesterday. Kerry is a really neat guy. If you ever sit under Rod Stewart's ass at the corner table in the front room of the Mothership, you can thank Kerry Woo. The life size promotional piece is from Kerry's days in the record business. ThisIsSmyrna has a roundup. Malia was there, too. Since I didn't bring my camera, I'm hoping to find a pic of her in some other posts that I can use to edit her in like the Aflac duck.
The digital camera is dead. Vince and I are going to look at some today. Got any suggestions? If it shoots decent video, that would be a plus.
My first digital camera was in 1999. It was the Sony Mavica-71 with a 1.4M floppy drive! The monster cost over $700 and put about 30 pictures on one floppy. Vince wanted me to throw it away when we moved, but as I looked it over, I couldn't believe what a technological dinosaur it had already become. It was practically an antique. I kept it.
[UPDATE 4:27PM] - Just got a Nikon CoolPix L4. Great pics, terrible video... NO SOUND. I guess I should have asked whether the movies actually had sound. Huh. We're taking it back. I'm going to look at the Sony Cybershot, which is the camera the KnoxNews's Random This uses.
[UPDATE 8:248PM] - m'kay, I got the Sony Cybershot DSC-S600. I'll see what it can do.
Gun wielding citizen in Tennessee stops attacker who stabbed 8 people.
The attacker, chasing one victim into the store's parking lot, was subdued by Chris Cope, manager of a financial services office in the same small shopping center, Higgins said.
Cope said he grabbed a 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pickup truck when he saw the attacker chasing the victim "like something in a serial killer movie."
"When he turned around and saw my pistol, he threw the knife away, put his hands up and got on the ground," Cope told The Associated Press. "He saw my gun and that was pretty much it." [8 Grocery Employees Stabbed in Tennessee - AP - 07-21-06]
Mr. Albertini sounded quite displeased with the evening's events. He relayed to me the dishonor that this charge had brought to his wife and his Lord. He said he had never been charged with "anything like this before." No DUI, nothing.
He told me that the charge had not been just "dropped" but that he had pled "no contest" and that the charge would be removed from his record.
As to his alcohol consumption, he said that he had only a glass of red wine five hours prior to his arrest. He was given no field sobriety, no breathalyzer, no blood test. He was simply approached by two officers and was told that there had been "some complaints." [Albertini: Eight Months of My Life Down To This - Volunteer Voters - 07-21-06]
And here is what the Tennessean reported:
Messages left last night and this morning at Albertini’s campaign office were not returned. Calls to his listed home telephone number last night and this morning yielded the noise of a fax machine. [State Republican chairman calls on Albertini to drop out of gov's race - Tennessean - 07-21-06]
More from the Tennessean:
Albertini was arrested after a Republican rally at Elizabeth Lane farm in Knoxville, where GOP U.S. Senate candidates and those running for governor were invested to speak Thursday evening.
A businessman and former U.S. Marine from Chattanooga, Albertini said he was asked to leave the event. He said he went down to a nearby intersection and began passing out campaign literature before being arrested.
The officers who arrested him, he said, did not give him a field sobriety test, but did impound his car.
One of the top officials of the state's Republican Party called on Albertini to drop out of the race this morning in light of the charge. [Albertini, out of jail, says he was not drunk - Tennessean - 07-21-06]
I found this pic posted over at Kerry Woo's blog. Kerry saw us yapping yesterday on his way to grab a drink and snapped it. That's me holding a half-eaten rib in my hand. I got priorities.
One day while I was at the White House working on the First Lady's White House Conference on Philanthropy, Mom called and asked me if I knew whether Hillary Clinton was going to run for Senate once they left office. I told her I didn't know, but that there was no way in hell Hillary would do something so risky as to possibly lose an election. I guess someone at the White House knew what coattails were all about.
Anyway, Hillary Clinton continues to surprise me. Just recently, she shared her vision of children with computer chips in their brains. Mind you, these will be chips placed there by Madison Ave. execs, but if you think about the potential here, you'll see where this is going.
The pharmaceutical companies pretty much own about 90% of children's brains in America. They've long staked-out this frontier by aggressively cramming their wares into these hapless sponges for about 10 years now. With the prospects mentioned below by Hillary Clinton, and with emerging parental control chip technology already deployed, children everywhere could finally be on solid footing. It wouldn't take a whole village. It would take nothing more than a server.
"At the rate that technology is advancing, people will be implanting chips in our children to advertise directly into their brains and tell them what kind of products to buy," Clinton said at the Kaiser Family Foundation. [Hil frets chips will be put in kids' brains - NY Daily News - 07-21-06]
Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mark Albertini was taken into custody on a public intoxication charge Thursday evening, Knox County Sheriff’s officials said today.
The arrest of the Chattanooga businessman was made after a Republican rally at Elizabeth Lane Farm in Knoxville, where GOP U.S. Senate candidates and those running for governor were invested to speak.
Albertini was still being held in the Knox County jail shortly before 8 a.m. Nashville time today, sheriff’s officials said [Albertini, candidate for governor, jailed on drunkenness charge - Tennessean - 07-21-06]
After reading Sharon Cobb's "Top Ten List Of Mail To Throw In The Trash," it made me realize how plagued my inbox used to be with spam. I think she's talking about postal mail since I didn't see any penis enlargement stuff listed, but it got me thinking. I use Gmail, and I have to say it does a great job filtering that crap out all by itself. They always add new features, too. It has a calendar function that just blows me away.
At any rate, if you want to try Google's gmail, let me know in comments, and I'll shoot you an invitation.
If you could profile the small business owner that hires illegal aliens in the Middle Tennessee area, what would that profile be? Make a list. Would it include someone as ruthless and with little value on human life as this story indicates?
Police today identified Simon Lopez Ramirez as the man who seems to have died of heat-related causes after being pushed out of a slow-moving truck last week.
He was left in the grass on the exit ramp of I-24 West at Shelby Ave., according to a police statement. Investigators are looking for the driver of a white Chevy Silverado pickup truck with an extended cab and a red temporary tag. [Man who died after being pushed from car identified - Tennessean - 07-20-06]
Ever since state environmental regulators stopped BFI on March 20 of this year from shipping Nashville's poop to Rutherford County, one neighborhood has been dealing with a stinky backlog... pun intended.
Sludge at Metro's wastewater treatment plants is backing up because the company that was hired to haul it away has fallen behind and is taking away five fewer truckloads a day.
The 1,850-ton backlog has slowed the treatment plants' operations, increasing the costs of processing waste and raising fears of an eventual public health problem, according to Metro officials involved in a contract dispute with the hauler, which is unhappy with its current pay.
And while officials said the backlog doesn't have anything to do with the extremely strong odor often emanating from the plants, at least one nearby resident was skeptical after learning about it from a reporter. [Sludge backlog causes a stink - Tennessean - 07-21-06]
When problems like this arise, sometimes you have to put people in office that can really fix the problem.
Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howard Switzer has an old-world way of fertilizing his garden at his 65-acre home in Linden, Tenn. Even though the house, which he’s remodeling, has indoor plumbing, Switzer and his wife, Katey, prefer to go to the bathroom outside. The waste, rich in nitrogen, isn’t actually wasted at all. [Political Crapper - Nashville Scene Off Limits - 07-20-06]
They must water their lawns in Franklin, TN. A water emergency has been declared. Hmmmm...
The city is asking residents and businesses to immediately curtail non-essential water uses such as surface and non-commercial car washing, filling swimming pools, use of water for construction dust control, and watering of lawns, shrubs or gardens during daylight hours (watering plants is acceptable from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.)
Water is drawn from the Harpeth River and purchased from the Harpeth Valley Utility District.
"If Harpeth Valley's pumps go out, we'd be in trouble," Miller said. [Franklin declares water shortage emergency - Tennessean - 07-20-06]
I don't know why he wasn't serious. Would most Republicans vote to defend marriage by banning divorce and criminalizing adultery? Either the institution of marriage is sacred enough to protect it from these real threats, or it's just another right to be exercised between willing and consenting adults.
Rep. Lincoln Davis was not being serious when he made comments on the House floor earlier this week suggesting that divorce and adultery should be against the law, his spokesman said today.
Tom Hayden, the spokesman, said Davis, a Democrat from Frentress County, made the over-the-top comments during a debate Tuesday on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that the issue was being brought up by Republicans as an election year ploy.
"The intent of the Congressional speech was not to say that he intends to introduce legislation making divorce and adultery a felony," Hayden said. "Rather the intent was to point out the purely partisan nature and timing of the amendment." [Rep. Davis not serious about outlawing divorce, spokesman says - Tennessee - 07-20-06]
Starting around 6 p.m. last night I started watering the lawn. I didn't finish the entire yard until 10:30 p.m. I'm glad I did it. As I drove in from lunch this afternoon, a lot of the lawns around me look like they are on the verge of death.
Having a lawn is something new to me and Vince. We traded up from a 10th of an acre townhouse with a postage stamp-sized yard in Northern Virginia. We are now on a half acre lot with a lawn that literally just started in February. You can kinda see some of the grass in these pictures.
For a first year, it looks great, and everyone compliments us for the landscaping. That's nice to hear, but I feel like a nut out there almost every day watering. None of the locals seem to water. Strangely enough, everyone who waters constantly are also transplants. Gary and his wife are from Las Vegas. Mark is from California, and so on. I figure I should water the entire first year, and that it will get easier and easier year after year. We put about a ton of composted manure, 800 lbs of lime (for pH balancing), and about 800 pounds of sand on the yard this Spring.
Each time we water it's about 4 hours solid. I'm really dreading the water bill.
I expected a bit of smoke, but I didn't quite know what I was in for. My condo totally filled with a white fog, the kind that thick rich white smoke that elects popes. I left the pan on the stove and went to open the front and back doors to ventilate the house. Abbydog, being the smart dog that she is used this opportunity to liberate herself out the front door, only looking back after she got outside to wonder if she was going to have to pull a Lassie and go ask for help. [Inspired by the Funkenswine... - TimMorgan.com - 07-19-06]
Why don't media outlets treat bloggers with a scoop like any concerned citizen? Behind a post by Bill Hobbs today is a story of media picking and chosing when bloggers are regular citizens and when they are competing media.
A Nashville blogger nailed the campaign manager for the Bob Clement for Mayor campaign for setting up several political action committees to allow individual donors to give more to the Clement campaign than allowed to individually by law. The Nashville City Paper is doing a good job following up on the blogger's scoop, with stories Wednesday and Thursday - but a terrible job crediting the blog with the original scoop. [Credit Where Credit is Due - Bill Hobbs - 07-20-06]
(via Sharon Cobb) - Check out the music webcasting from the new Music Row Democrats. One song, All Gore Lives On My Street by Monkey Bowl, made me smile. Lots of familiar voices expressing outrage at President Bush. I'll try to find lyrics.
This wasn't exactly the taste of college life MTSU had hoped to share with prospective minority students.
Two MTSU aerospace camp counselors were indicted this month for having sexual relations with a high school student and the department chair was arrested for failing to report the crime.
Counselor Norman Lewis Jr., 21, of Memphis was charged Monday with having sexual intercourse with the student, fondling her and touching her while he was in a position of authority, MTSU spokesman Tom Tozer said Wednesday. The second counselor, who was indicted on identical charges, has not been arrested yet. [Camp counselors face sex charges - Daily News Journal - 07-20-06]
Suzanne Marie Collins is dead and forgotten. You remember Suzanne, don't you: she was murdered by the man Wayne Christeson of the Nashville Scene would rather you mourn.
Sedley Alley is dead and forgotten. You do remember Sedley, don't you: the most recent casualty of the State of Tennessee's death apparatus at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. But it seems that no matter how heinous a man is, he shouldn't just disappear un-remarked and, even, un-mourned. He was a child of God, after all, and a complex human being. [Dead Man Talking - Pith In The Wind - 07-19-06]
More about the victim, Suzanne Marie Collins, Lance Corporal, United States Marine Corps.
Suzanne Marie Collins may now rest in peace. Her vile murderer has finally been put to death by the State of Tennessee for the brutal and terrible crime that he inflicted on this fine young woman. [Arlington National Cemetary Website - Suzanne Marie Collins - 07-28-06]
Wikipedia
Suzanne Collins was the daughter of Jack and Trudy Collins. She graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Virginia. [Suzanne Marie Collins - Wikipedia]
[UPDATE 2:02PM]: A commenter claiming to be Sedley Alley's sister has a message for the Nashville Scene.
I am Sedley Alley"s sister. I loved him, but he was guilty. Sedley told me "I killed her." His sentenced was the death penalty. The ANTI"S need to grow up and get a cause that will help the world.
Ms. Collin's family have suffered enough. [BRENDA HOFFMAN (07.20.2006, 11:36 AM)]
Here's Yahoo's problem as Wall Street sees it: the owner of the Internet's most trafficked Web site keeps raking in more money as advertisers continue to shift their spending online, but it still lags well behind search engine leader Google Inc. And now it looks like Yahoo won't be closing that gap as soon as management had promised. [Yahoo Stock Falls to Biggest One-Day Drop - AP - 07-19-06]
YouTube gets the hits.
YouTube, the leader in Internet video search, said on Sunday viewers have are now watching more than 100 million videos per day on its site, marking the surge in demand for its "snack-sized" video fare. [YouTube Boasts of 100 Million Daily Viewings - FOXNews - 07-18-06]
YouTube gets sued.
Robert Tur says video he shot of the beating of trucker Reginald Denny during the 1992 Los Angeles riots was posted at YouTube without his permission and viewed more than 1,000 times. Tur says in his lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, that YouTube is profiting from his work while hurting his ability to license his video. [YouTube sued over copyright infringement - ZDNet - 07-19-06]
Online teen hangout MySpace.com ranked as the No. 1 U.S. Web site last week, displacing Yahoo Inc.'s top-rated e-mail gateway and Google Inc.'s search site, Internet tracking firm Hitwise said on Tuesday.
News Corp.'s MySpace accounted for 4.46 percent of all U.S. Internet visits for the week ending July 8, pushing it past Yahoo Mail for the first time and outpacing the home pages for Yahoo, Google and Microsoft's MSN Hotmail. [MySpace gains top ranking of US Web sites - Reuters - 07-11-06]
Since my post just last night listing several pit bull attacks in the past couple of days, two more girls were viciously attacked.
"I seen the dog jump up onto two girls." said Curtis Cosby, who was working at nearby job site and watched the attack. "One of them was hollering and screaming. Then the guy tried to pull the dog back, but it got away from and jumped on the other girl. The dog started going after her stomach and her arm." [Girls Injured In Hunter's Point Pit Bull Attack - FoxReno - 07-19-06]
According to CDC data, shared by Aunt B. of Tiny Cat Pants, A majority of fatal dog attacks between 1979 - 1998 were done by pit bulls. A majority of the fatalities (70%) were children. A majority (78%) of these fatal attacks occured on the pet owner's property.
TN Gubernatorial Candidate and Wife Poop in the Yard
July 19, 2006
This Tennessee gubernatorial candidate and his wife poop and pee in the yard. I kid you not. Read for yourself at Nashvile Scene's Off Limitis. (via Volunteer Voters)
Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howard Switzer has an old-world way of fertilizing his garden at his 65-acre home in Linden, Tenn. Even though the house, which he’s remodeling, has indoor plumbing, Switzer and his wife, Katey, prefer to go to the bathroom outside. The waste, rich in nitrogen, isn’t actually wasted at all. [Political Crapper - Nashville Scene Off Limits - 07-20-06]
Nashville Scene's blog Pith In The Wind was viciously attacked this morning by an annonymous commenter. The studied drive-by in reaction to Pith In The Wind's post pointing out grammatical errors on Bob Mueller's WKRN blog is excerpted below.
Why don't you assign Willy Stern to do another blistering investigative piece on spelling errors in local news blogs? Or, even better, take this opportunity to quit pointing the finger at other publications/news outlets and start fixing the rampant misspellings, grammatical errors and content in your own paper which is rapidly becoming a shitty yuppie lifestyle rag. The Scene definitely doesn't represent the Nashville I know and love as it once did. [why (07.19.2006, 10:24 AM) - Pith In The Wind comments]
Here are some posts that I found myself reading all the way through this morning. I guess that means I should share them with you.
I think too often the meaning of the word "journalism" is needlessly debated by bloggers, and about bloggers. I actually am a journalist, but what I do here is not journalism -- except when it is. I don't lie. I express opinions. I'm transparent in my motives and relationships. When I'm just passing on gossip, I admit it. But the reason this weblog exists and the reason I post to it has more to do with telling stories than about journalism -- unless you want to debate the meaning of the word, and I don't. [Why people blog: - Rexblog - 07-19-06]
God says it’s a no-no - Sure, maybe God did. But he also said I shouldn’t eat shrimp, that I should sacrifice a bull upon the altar of God, and that it’s OK to sell my daughter into slavery. Well, I eat shrimp, don’t sacrifice bulls and would die or kill before selling my daughter off. [More Gay Cooties In Tennessee - Say Uncle - 07-19-06]
US Senate candidate Bob Corker released the results of an internal poll that he released to supporters last week that shows him with a commanding lead in the race to replace Bill Frist. The poll showed Bob Corker with 46% of the vote, Ed Bryant 24% and Van Hilleary 17%. The poll of 600 likely Republican primary voters was conducted by Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies on July 10-11, 13. The margin of error is ±4.0%. [Corker Releases Poll / Attack Ads - TNPoliticsBlog - 07-19-06]
Fuck me, it's hot out. Already. Mrs. Wigglebottom and I came back from our walk and both just had to stand in front of the air vent and let the coolness blow on us. [The Weather - Tiny Cat Pants - 07-19-06]
As MTSU moves forward with its 20-year growth plan into Murfreesboro, local unorganized property owners are left confused by their tactics in taking their property.
Mike Willman is scratching his head over a letter he received Friday afternoon notifying him the state is condemning property he owns next to MTSU.
"I was actually shocked," said the Franklin resident. "I didn't think they would do any eminent domain action."
Now it looks like the owner of a 125-foot-by-60-foot lot at 121 N. Baird Lane, across the street from Domino's Pizza, is being forced to sell his property to MTSU for what the university says is its appraised value. An independent appraisal conducted by MTSU valued the property at $44,500. [MTSU condemns land - Daily News Journal - 07-19-06]
Today's Washington Post describes conservative intellectuals as abandoning the President on foreign policy. I inserted some accompanying video to illustrate President Bush's amazing level of understanding regarding North Korea, as well as video illustrating his tough "stop doing this shit" strategy in the War On Terror.
Thanks to the conservatives who put President Bush in office, it's now easy to see that words and the messages they convey aren't exactly the biggest weapon in our nation's arsenal when we need them the most.
Conservative intellectuals and commentators who once lauded Bush for what they saw as a willingness to aggressively confront threats and advance U.S. interests said in interviews that they perceive timidity and confusion about long-standing problems including Iran and North Korea, as well as urgent new ones such as the latest crisis between Israel and Hezbollah.
"It is Topic A of every single conversation," said Danielle Pletka, vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank that has had strong influence in staffing the administration and shaping its ideas. "I don't have a friend in the administration, on Capitol Hill or any part of the conservative foreign policy establishment who is not beside themselves with fury at the administration." [Conservative Anger Grows Over Bush's Foreign Policy - Washington Post - 07-19-06]
Here is a nice clip of President Bush's special way of easing tensions with European allies. Did Putin get a massage, too, or was this one just for the ladies? Creepy.
These stories from the past two days alone support the councilman for Overland Park, KS:
Two year old attacked in Georgia
The owner of the pit bull Bruce Smith, "When he got hold of that little girl he started jacking those back legs up and I just knew he was going to take her head off." [Pit bull attacks girl in Barrow County - Acces North Georgia - 07-18-06]
10 year old attacked in TX
The dog tore into the boys arm, leg and groin. At last report the 10-year-old was in fair condition at Covenant Health System, but the family is still waiting to find out what the injuries will mean for the boy's future. [10-Year-Old Lubbock Boy Recovering From Pit Bull Attack - KCDB-TV - 07-17-06]
Seven year old girl in Missouri
"She came to our door three times asking if she could play with our dogs," said Matthew Morris, the dogs' owner. "The dogs love kids." Morris did not see the incident but suggested the girl might have gotten too close to the fence and the dogs jumped up. [Pit bull injures girl, 7 - The Examiner - 07-17-06]
Man in Florida attacked by two pit bulls
“I thought I had had it,” said Pipala. “I thought it was all over!” Pipala said he tried scaring them, then tried hitting them with a tree limb, but he said the pit bulls kept trying to bite him. [Pit Bull Owner Defended Dog After Alleged Attack - WTVF-TV - 07-17-06]
Woman and teen attacked in Alabama
And just last night - another attack - a pit bull attacked a Montgomery woman and a teenaged boy. A police officer had to shoot the animal. [Pit Bull Attacks Montgomery Woman, Teen. Council Considers New Dog Ordinance - WSFA-TV - 07-17-06]
S-townMike deleted my "Steve Gill" comment. I guess people have the right to delete comments from their blogs. I personally have never done it in 6 years of blogging for reasons well known to regulars. For the first time, one of my comments has been deleted from a local Nashville blog.
First, an excerpt of s-townmike's rant about WKRN hiring conservative commentator Steve Gill as a pundit:
07/16/2006 12:30 a.m. Update: Steve Gill's first evening commentary on Friday pretty much confirmed my concerns of a drift to the right at News 2. His knee-jerk, Israel-right-or-wrong stance was the typical neoconservative red meat we've seen thrown around by the right for years. [More on the WKRN-Gill Marriage - Enclave - 07-14-06]
My deleted comment:
Mike, keep watching. You might be able to get a great quote or two down the road to confirm that Gill is, indeed, a conservative.
At some point critics have to understand how they willingly promote an opposing opinion. Any criticism that WKRN is hiring conservative voices might be taken seriously if it constructively offered suggested alternative voices for conservative principles. I doubt that will come from people dead set on there being no conservative voices.
[UPDATE 4:26PM]: S-townmike has restored my comment.
[UPDATE 7:42PM]: "I never deleted your comment." S-townmike explains in comments.
It's that time of the something or another when I scour the blogroll and think to myself: Do I REALLY read this blog, or am I trying to make people think I do? I've decided it's so Y2K to list blogs I don't really read. So, the list has shrunk to fit my true taste (OK, I DO have some more pruning to do today).
I've added a few local blogs I found myself frequenting a lot over the past few weeks. I'm sure I'll add more, but for now, check out the local ones I added. Are there others I should be reading if I like these?
While the sprinkler runs up our water bill this morning, I was shocked, SHOCKED, to read these things on the blogs this morning.
The citizen journalist is a myth. You are either a journalist or you are not and theoretically we are all citizens of the web. [The myth of the citizen journalist - Pontiff - 07-17-06]
Is Kleinheider an actual journalist?
He's getting paid by WKRN, which implies paid journalist. And as such, where is the fine line between journalism and blogging, and can these two means of communication be fully merged? [TV On The Fritz - A Rebutal - 07-17-06]
And frankly, I'm tired of the 'let's see what blogger we can run out of the blogosphere' bullshit that seems to bubble up here in Nashville every four or five months. First Brittney, then Bill Hobbs. Is this the first rumblings of something similar against Kleinheider? [In Defense of Kleinheider, Kind Of - Tiny Cat Pants - 07-17-06]
I saw this story and went bonkers. I wanted to drive to Cookeville, post their bail, drag them outside and just beat them with a big stick, over and over and over. I could not believe that these two complete dirtballs would or could do something like this. Kids right there, and you are in the kitchen making meth? [Mad, Mad, Mad, and Mad - Big Joe On The Go - 07-18-06]
Dorky, sanitized, controlled and unhip as it may be, Wal-Mart will learn more than other marketers who aren't trying things like this. (Wait. Was that me who just said something positive about Wal-Mart?). [My Wal-Mart Space: - Rexblog - 07-18-06]
At the heart of Murfreesboro's story of massive growth and development is a clash between community values and change. Too often, the community expresses outrage well after permission was granted by elected officials for developers to demolish historic sites for strip malls and housing.
The latest opportunity for area residents to preserve history from the threat of 30 town houses while they have a chance is the McCulloch House.
James Patterson is hoping the group he leads and other historic preservation groups in Rutherford County can come up with $500,000 in 30 days to purchase the McCulloch House and the nearly 2 acres it sits on at 565 River Rock Blvd. and save the house that played a significant role in the Battle of Stones River from demolition.
Property owner Howard Wilson decided to extend the offer of selling the property for its appraised value to the group after reading in The Daily News Journal about the groups' efforts to save the Hiram Jenkins Home on Gresham Lane — the home on the National Register of Historic Places was razed June 10 — and their attention now turning to the McCulloch House.
"If they are going to do something, I want to give them the opportunity," he said, but "time is of the essence." [McCulloch House owner offers chance for preservation - Daily News Journal - 07-18-06]
I'm biased, but we did choose Murfreesboro when moving back here from the Washington, D.C. area.
Murfreesboro ranks 84th in the magazine's list of the Top 100 places to live in the country. It was the only city in Tennessee to make the list.
"I think it is just another testament to our great quality of life, pro-business climate and affordability," said Holly Sears, director of economic development for the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. "It is a testimony that Murfreesboro is not only a great place to live but a great place to do business." ['Boro tops Tennessee for living - Daily News Journal - 07-18-06]
Now the king told the boogie men
You have to let that raga drop
The oil down the desert way
Has been shakin’ to the top
The sheik he drove his cadillac
He went a’ cruisnin’ down the ville
The muezzin was a’ standing
On the radiator grille
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
By order of the prophet
We ban that boogie sound
Degenerate the faithful
With that crazy casbah sound
But the bedouin they brought out
The electric camel drum
The local guitar picker
Got his guitar picking thumb
As soon as the shareef
Had cleared the square
They began to wail
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
Now over at the temple
Oh! they really pack ’em in
The in crowd say it’s cool
To dig this chanting thing
But as the wind changed direction
The temple band took five
The crowd caught a wiff
Of that crazy casbah jive
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
The king called up his jet fighters
He said you better earn your pay
Drop your bombs between the minarets
Down the casbah way
As soon as the shareef was
Chauffeured outta there
The jet pilots tuned to
The cockpit radio blare
As soon as the shareef was
Outta their hair
The jet pilots wailed
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
The shareef don’t like it
Rockin’ the casbah
Rock the casbah
He thinks it’s not kosher
Fundamentally he can’t take it.
You know he really hates it.
Three Republicans are fighting a nasty primary in a closely watched race for Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's open seat. A recent allegation that a chicken assaulted a campaign worker is just the latest. The winner of the Republican primaries will face Democratic Senatorial candidate Harold Ford, Jr.
Tennessee Political Pulse sums up an earlier story from the Chattanoogan about an alleged assault and has some pretty good ideas as to what really happened.
According to an account Friday in the chattanoogan.com a Corker campaign staffer - Bryan Shannon - claims he was "assaulted" by a kid in a chicken suit early Friday as Shannon worked the early voting polling place. Shannon said he was assaulted as he innocently attempted to snap a photo of a kid dressed like a chicken who was holding a sign critizing Corker for being too chicken to debate the other Republican primary candidates in his home town of Chattanooga. [There's more to this Corker chicken tale - Tennessee Political Pulse - 07-13-06]
According to Chattanooga Deputy Police Chief Charles Cooke, who witnessed the incident, it appears the chicken was the one assaulted.
Chief Cooke said he was present just after noon Friday near the election office at Fourth and Lindsay and saw what appeared to be a "struggle" between the chicken and a Bob Corker partisan.
Chief Cooke said he saw Brian Shannon chasing the chicken down Lindsay Street. He said the chicken was trying to get away from Mr. Shannon.
The deputy chief said Mr. Shannon "was trying to stop the chicken from getting into the Volvo" he was driving. [Deputy Police Chief Cooke Witnessed Chicken Incident - Chattanoogan - 07-17-06]
Of Course, Mr. Shannon denies.
There seems to be a concerted effort amongst some in the blogsphere, attempting to somehow make the events of Friday afternoon out to be my fault. This is both sad and distrubing. While I would like to think that deep down people want to do what is right, it is clear that some people are not wired this way and will stop at nothing to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. [Conservatives For Corker - Let's Set the Story Straight - 07-16-06]
Malia linked to an older post of hers in comments to the Black Widow post below. It's a nice outline of the do's and dont's when protecting yourself against brown recluse spiders.
Rule #1 is a good one. I have already found two spiders in my shoes I checked before putting them on! Because of how the guy in this video got bit, I always twist any work gloves I use before putting them on. Our neighbor's daughter caught a brown recluse bite before it spread, but not until a pea-sized chunk of skin had rotted.
The Spider House Rules
1. Never put your shoes on without checking them first. That also goes for gardening gloves.
2. Check under the blankets and sheets on your bed before getting in.
3. Use caution when reaching in and behind things, like cardboard boxes or closets.
4. If you leave a pile of clothes on the floor for more than a day or two, expect to find a spider under it when picking-up the clothes.
5. If you see a spider: don't touch it! Find Mommy or Daddy and they will determine if it needs to be eradicated. Which goes with #6.
6. Never kill a wolf spider. They may be scary looking but they are natural predators of the recluse. We like wolf spiders, we may even look into breeding them. [The Spider House Rules - Musings From Malicious - 03-29-06]
We've been getting a handlful of roma and grape tomatoes and cucumbers here and there, but today is the first good harvest of both. We got some jalepenas, steak tomatoes and big boy tomatoes as well. Today is grandma's (Aileen Reagan) birthday, so we're bringing her these. She can't garden because of her health, so she'll love them.
Here is one of the many sugar baby water mellons. I wasn't sure how to tell when they are ready. The Internets says when the tendrill about six inches from the stem that feeds the mellon starts to turn brown, it's ready.
[MYSTERY UPDATE] - An update on our mystery doodles. This morning, a jar with the remains of a fruit smoothie that had become a home to maggots was turned sideways and completely cleaned out. I may have to take the mystery doodles to the farmer's co-op and see what they think is the mystery animal that left it.
I'm usually pretty good at getting to the bottom of things, but this is where my deductive reasoning breaks down. What animal left this present for me this morning outside my garage?
This is one of those things only experience teaches you. It's not like I can look at it and make an educated guess. So, I turn to you, the mighty Internets. Anyone? I put my keys there to give you a sense of exactly how small it is.
As long as it only "bothers" you after they have permission from elected officials to destroy our history, developers don't really care what you think. Without much protest made to our elected officials when it mattered, the Loyd Haven Farm home is now destroyed.
A Lascassas home that was the site of countless parties and charity events for decades is gone.
Developer David Waldron of Waldron Enterprises said earlier this week his company hadn't finalized plans to tear down the 171-year-old Loyd Haven Farm home on East Jefferson Pike, but a demolition permit for the house was issued Thursday.
By Friday, only debris remained.
"I hate to see the history of not only the county but the state destroyed," said John H. Phillips, who owns property on East and West Jefferson Pike. "It bothers me to see these things torn apart."
Phillips, a lifelong resident of Rutherford County, said he understands a property owner's right to develop his or her own property, but added it shouldn't come at the expense of preserving history. [Developer demolishes Loyd Haven Farm home - Daily News Journal - 07-14-06]
Can we all finally agree that it is at least possible the recent increased popularity of MySpace is responsible for the hottest year on record? The timing of these announcements cannot be ignored.
The first half of the year was the warmest on record for the United States.
The government reported Friday that the average temperature for the 48 contiguous United States from January through June was 51.8 degrees Fahrenheit, or 3.4 degrees above average for the 20th century.
That made it the warmest such period since recordkeeping began in the National Climatic Data Center reported. [First Half of 2006 Is Warmest on Record - AP - 07-14-06]
All the negative news stories about Jiffy Lube ripping people off really has me second guessing going back. And I am about 1,000 miles over due for a good lube job.
In the video clip above, even the slime-ball manager was in on defrauding customers. The video says it is company policy not to deceive or defraud customers. What about it being against the law? You might as well call them Gypy Lube, unless you think that being "gypped" refers in a negative way to Gypsies. And it "probably" does, according to Answers.com, so just forget it.
Anyhow, since I'm late for an oil change, I went to my local WalMart Super Duper Center here is Smyrfreesboro. Very happy people. And besides, what was the chance that the oil I bought at this great American company was at the expense of soldiers fighting for our nation's strategic interests in the Middle East like I bet it is at Jiffy Lube? And there was very little chance the labor I paid for and the hour's wait was putting an honest local shop owner or franchisee out of business. I'm just one person anyway. Too bad it wasn't one person with a camera and a good battery. You would have seen a lot of smiles in the hour I was at the WalMart.
But even if the cost was at a greater expense, WalMart is a lot more subtle in the hidden cost of things. If they are ripping off America in anyway, just think of it this way. At least they are spreading the true costs and savings out over several communities instead of hurriedly gouging us all at once like Jiffy Lube.
"How can we be of service to each other?" asked Moonves, after Hurley gave the CBS boss - who was joined by Brian Bedol, the head of CBS' College Sports Television, and an Allen & Co. banker - an overview of YouTube.
Hurley, a long-haired 29-year-old who is one of the main attractions for the execs of old line media firms here, said to Moonves, "We'd love to sell ads for you."
YouTube, which Hurley told Moonves yesterday streams some 100 million videos a day, recently inked a cross-promotion deal with NBC. [TITANS OF OLD & NEW MEDIA MIX & MATCH - NYPOST - 07-14-06]
To wear PJs, or to dress like a whore? That is the question.
Of course, I hope WKRN’s clever editors and writers could turn the often-boring lives of bloggers into something magical and entertaining.
And if nothing else, the money would allow these lucky video bloggers to buy as many extra pairs of pajamas as they would need for the job. [This Week, It's All About the Vlog - Pith In The Wind - 07-14-06]
If only I could wear my PJs to work. [Nashville Is Talking's Brittney - High Hopes - 07-14-06]
Baseball cap. Never, ever acceptable. Some ladies wear caps to hide their nasty hair, probably because they didn’t get home from the bar until the wee hours of the morning, or because they rolled out of someone else’s bed. Either way everyone knows you are a whore. Just go home, wash that icky hair, and arrive to work late. At least everyone won’t turn to stone at the site of you, and worker’s compensation claims will be reduced by the simple action of shampooing. [Coco's Casual Friday No-Nos - What Would Coco Do? - 07-14-06]
That's the kind of mayoral leadership the people of Cooperstown, TN voted for in November 2004 when they elected convicted felon Danny Crosby. In fairness to the people of Cooperstown, 2004 was a year that a lot of Americans were conned into believing those running for office would be law-abiding and represent this country's best principles and values.
Robertson County Chancellor Laurence McMillan Jr. said he found “clear and convincing evidence” to support suspending Crosby because:
• Crosby told a police officer to make false comments about political detractors on the Internet;
• He ordered an officer to issue citations to those who signed a petition supporting his ouster and also threatened to sue them;
• The city’s police chief said Crosby was an irrational and dangerous person;
• Crosby encouraged police to target his adversaries for traffic violations.
McMillan said that, while he found allegations that Crosby used racial slurs and vulgar terms “inappropriate at best and disgraceful at worst,” those did not play into his decision. [Judge suspends Coopertown mayor - Tennessean - 07-14-06]
No offense to the V.P., but isn’t that soft on terror? One percent? Shouldn’t it be a zero percent doctrine? I mean even if there’s NO chance that someone’s a threat to the United States, and they just look at us funny, shouldn’t we just--[beats a fist into his palm]--tag ‘em?
The problem with evidence is that it doesn’t always support your opinion...That’s what the Vice President was protecting us from...If we waited we wouldn’t have invaded...we would have tripped over our preparedness. [Colbert to Suskind: We Need a ‘Zero Percent Doctrine’- TruthDig - 07-13-06]
Bob Corker is put-together and adult. Van is a whiny child who appears to be running for student body president. And Ed…I like Ed, but it was almost as if he wasn’t there.
"I am very excited about becoming a part of the WKRN team," Gill said. "With the station's video journalists expanding the boundaries of local news, their emphasis on the emerging blogosphere and the aggressive approach to telling the important stories that affect our communities, WKRN is poised to dramatically shake up the local news business."
John Hutcheson of SalemsLot doesn't get President Bush's threat of a veto on funding stem cell research.
I understand opposition to abortion. I understand the implications of eugenic tampering and why that should give us more than pause. What I will never understand is why anyone would be opposed to using stem cells that would otherwise be discarded and derived solely from embryos DONATED by fertilization clinics in excess of need.
Over the past week I have been trying to get this damn song out of my head. I figured the best way to do it was to just blow it out of my shallow waters once and for all with a 1979 performance on Late Night with Johnny Carson by Herbert Buckingham Khaury. It's truly a religious experience.
Tennessee Celebrates the Founder of the Ku Klux Klan
July 13, 2006
Volunteer Voters has a good discussion going on the fact that today is Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee. He even provides the Governor of Tennessee's official proclamation. This is a special observance of a Confederate General in the Civil War and the founding Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Pursuant to the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated §15-2-101, each year it shall be the duty of the governor to proclaim the following as days of special observance:
January 13.........Robert E. Lee Day
February 12........Abraham Lincoln Day
March 15...........Andrew Jackson Day
June 3..............Memorial or Confederate Decoration Day
July 13.............Nathan Bedford Forrest Day
More on the Klan's founding:
Six college students founded the Ku Klux Klan between December 1865 and the summer of 1866 in the town of Pulaski, Tennessee. Former Confederate officers, the six young men organized as a social club or fraternity and spent their time in horseplay of various types, including wearing disguises and galloping about town after dark. They were surprised to learn that their nightly appearances were causing fear, particularly among former slaves in the area. They quickly took advantage of this effect and the group began a rapid expansion. Various factions formed in different towns, which led to a meeting in April 1867 to codify rules and organizational structure.
At this meeting, former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was elected Grand Wizard, or supreme leader, of all the Klan. The organization was divided into a number of realms, dominions, provinces and dens, which were in turn led by Grand Dragons, Titans, Giants and Cyclopes. [Ku Klux Klan - Anti-Defamation League]
First, they teach our pre-school children with stories like Cinderella and Snow White that it's OK for boys and girls to explore heterosexual attraction and to kiss each other. Then they act on their own desires with our children. Today's examples from local headlines is a disturbing trend in heterosexuals sexualizing our children before the gays can legally do it themselves.
Wilson County
A former employee of a facility for troubled teens in Wilson County is accused of picking up two young men in Lebanon in mid-June, bringing them back to her workplace, and letting them have sex with two 15-year-old female residents. All three adults were indicted by the Wilson County Grand Jury on Wednesday and were wanted by Lebanon Police. [Police: Youth center worker set up sex with girls - Tennessean - 07-13-06]
Warren County
Pamela Rogers, the former elementary school teacher accused of sending sexually explicit images of herself to a male teen she'd had sex with, has been indicted on additional charges stemming from her communications with the boy, court records show.
Rogers, 28, who pleaded no contest in 2005 to charges that she had a sexual affair with the student, has been indicted on four counts of sexual solicitation of a minor, related to events that prosecutors say occurred while she was on probation for the first offense. [Rogers indicted on four new charges - Tennessean - 07-13-06]
I'm so glad that WKRN is starting to make they're station cool again, I believe that it has alot to do with my MANIFESTO that I wrote back in the spring!!
TV On The Fritz is not happy with the new faculty advisor for MTSU's student paper.
Who knew that this new era of journalistic geniuses have trouble spelling the obscure phrase, "law suite?"
BuzzMachine has Fred Graver's take on the demise of Rocketboom. Graver is executive producer of VH-1's Best Week Ever.
And at this point, I freeze the image on the screen and ask you all… how is this different from anything we’ve seen in the past 300 years of show business? If you’re having ANY trouble understanding what’s going on here, read Trav S. D.’s brillia
filed under: 
Some things I read this morning that people said. Drama queens.
My first digital camera was in 1999. It was the Sony Mavica-71 with a 1.4M floppy drive! The monster cost over $700 and put about 30 pictures on one floppy. Vince wanted me to throw it away when we moved, but as I looked it over, I couldn't believe what a technological dinosaur it had already become. It was practically an antique. I kept it.
One day while I was at the White House working on the First Lady's White House Conference on Philanthropy, Mom called and asked me if I knew whether Hillary Clinton was going to run for Senate once they left office. I told her I didn't know, but that there was no way in hell Hillary would do something so risky as to possibly lose an election. I guess someone at the White House knew what coattails were all about.
Suzanne Marie Collins is dead and forgotten. You remember Suzanne, don't you: she was murdered by the man Wayne Christeson of the Nashville Scene would rather you mourn.
