Archive for January, 2008
Knoxville teens “waterboarding” end up in WSJ
Perhaps not altogether surprising from the town that gave you Johnny Knoxville…
In today’s Wall Street Journal article titled “Three Young Men Try Waterboarding and Tell the Tale,” we find this nugget:
Wesley Sherwood, a teenager in Knoxville, Tenn., says he and friends decided to try (waterboarding) to win an online dare contest hosted by the Web [...]
Read More..>>Oops, wrong defendant
This likely isn’t the way this attorney hoped his case would make news:
The allegations made in the lawsuit - that a seven-year-old special-needs child was sexually and physically assaulted on a Maryville school bus - are serious. However, the lawyer for the child’s parents admits he sued the wrong bus company.
The attorney plans to amend [...]
Readin’ writin’ and ….squirrel huntin’
West Virginia legislators are considering adding hunting classes to their curriculum:
The move comes as the state watches its hunting population age, and sales of hunting permits drop, leaving a hole in the state budget.
Senator Billy Bailey has introduced a bill that would provide hunting instruction to 7th, 8th and 9th graders, with topics ranging from [...]
Jim Cooper and Bob Corker have something in common
Interestingly, two Tennessee lawmakers - one from each party and one in each chamber - are among the smallish minority opposing the proposed tax rebate stimulus plan:
(Bob) Corker and Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville are among a few members who oppose the politically popular plan to immediately send rebate checks to taxpayers - ranging [...]
Bill Frist and James Carville having drinks together
Bill Frist and James Carville are going to appear together in a Coke ad to air during the Superbowl:
The ad, according to a news release from Coca-Cola, uses Washington, D.C., landmarks as a backdrops and is titled “Jinx.”
It plays off the word game by that name and features Carville, who worked for former president Bill [...]
Sundquist endorses McCain
Via Nashville Post.
(Unfortunately for McCain, that’s sort of damning with faint praise among a whole lot of TN Republicans…)
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Could it happen here?
Something –or someone (insert ominous undertone here) — cut the link to the internet for much of the world earlier today:
A cut in an undersea cable has caused billions of terabytes worth of data to gush into the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Seabirds coated in sticky YouTube videos are washing ashore on Egyptian beaches, [...]
Read More..>>The high cost of low-cost housing
Larry Van Guilder has a very interesting piece in the Halls Shopper about former County Commissioner Josh Jordan’s acquisition of two KCDC-owned houses at bargain-basement prices:
The gap between KCDC’s expenses for purchasing and moving the Pickett Avenue houses and Jordan’s investment in those same houses is at least $150,000. Ultimately, the inability to protect these [...]
Parents: learn how your wee global warming denier can win for you!
The new “Kids and Globaloney” contest is marketed to parents who are “shocked, amused or just plain disgusted about what your kids are being told about global warming:”
Are YOUR kids being victimized by global warming hysteria? Tell us and win!
Have they been forced to watch “An Inconvenient Truth” in 5 different classes?
Have they been ostracized [...]
Some early voters are asking for a do-over
Apparently some Tennesseans who voted early for candidates who have since dropped out of the race want their money back, so to speak:
Early voting allows voters to skip possible long lines and bad weather on Election Day, but it can backfire.
“We’ve been getting calls from people who voted early for Fred Thompson and now they [...]
A straw poll that really matters
The diners at the City Cafe in Murfreesboro apparently always get the nominees right and this year they’ve picked Obama and McCain.
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Tennesseans opposing abortion had a good day yesterday
So says David Oatney:
The Tennessee State Senate yesterday voted 23-9 to adopt a Constitutional Amendment that states explicitly that nothing in the Tennessee Constitution should be construed to imply that there is a constitutional right to abortion in this State.
Were the amendment to pass, it would allow the Legislature to do what so many other [...]
Capital Fresh
Givin’ my youngest cousin, Thomas’s band (they have a new CD coming out) a little plug.
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The Ralphinator may get back in the race
Ralph Nader says he may get back in the presidential campaign:
Ralph Nader, the longtime consumer advocate who was blamed by many Democrats for Al Gore’s loss in the 2000 presidential election, launched an exploratory committee Wednesday for another White House bid, and told CNN he is likely to get in the race if he can [...]
It’s an Atomic Tumor Speakeasy
Atomic Tumor and his fiancee have started planning their upcoming wedding. It will have a 20s theme:
We’ve secured Cristabel and the Jons to play…and THEN it evolved from there. We decided to do the whole wedding/reception with a 1920’s theme.
Yep. Flappers, gangstas, jazz, speakeasies and booze.
And we’re hoping everyone will play the game with us. [...]
Whither the Momocrats?
I wonder what will now happen to the Momocrats, the group of moms who have been blogging for Edwards:
While I knew there was a good chance this day would come, I was heartened by Edwards’ statements recently that he would stay in the race until the convention.
I knew that was probably not the most realistic [...]
Legislators want to eat, then dish
Some lawmakers want to be able to accept free meals as long as they then disclose that they ate them. Kleinheider asks:
So is this a problem for the citizens? Should legislators be prohibited from even the appearance of impropriety or is disclosure the answer? If monies spent on a legislator can be disclosed for public [...]
An Edwards supporter’s theory on why he’s dropping out
White’s Creek says:
There’s no question that Edwards was the best choice to be our President. I also think that his choice to refuse Corporate and Pac money, and money from lobbyists greatly hampered his financial prospects. The big money flowing into the Clinton campaign from corporations and lobbyists and the big money flowing into the [...]
Obama HQ opens in Knoxville
I’m a day late and a dollar short on this one, but the new Obama HQ apparently opened up in East Knoxville on Tuesday.
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Who got Stacey Campfield’s vote?
Rep. Campfield says:
I have been getting asked a lot who am I going to endorse for the primary now that Fred is out of the race. I voted very early and it was for the most conservative candidate I could find. Take that how you will.
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