I’m a couple days late on this one. I’m not apologizing though, I was in Miami all weekend, trying to forget that I go to law school.I just want to point out one thing on the Walt Baker fiasco–he was not roundly criticized and fired by the Tennessee …
The most undeserving people in this country of the protections of the First Amendment are heading to the Supreme Court:The Supreme Court, taking on the emotionally charged issue of picketing protests at the funerals of soldiers killed in wartime, agree…
I’m trying to write a post for Pith about the Governor’s proposal to close down the female juvenile detention center and throw those girls back in with the boys, into a facility where the sexual abuse of the boys is so rampant that it’s received national attention. I’m trying to write about how, because newspapers [...]
There’s always Despair.com, where you can find stuff like this:
or this one:
One thing I find utterly baffling in the whole Walt Baker thing is the amount of people who want to sit around and argue about what’s in Baker’s heart. Like we can’t know that what he did was racist, because we don’t know what’s in his heart.
On the one hand, I get that this is [...]
Question: Would cheese that is made from a human be considered Vegan? After all, it is voluntary and humane…luckily, our legislature is on top of the ball in making sure Tennesseans won’t have to make that distinction.
Ward Cammack, after having endorsed Jim Kyle just weeks before that candidate left the race, has decided to throw his weight behind perceived underdog Kim McMillan in her race for the Democratic nomination to be the next Governor.
I called a number of local liquor store owners this morning to ask for arguments against allowing wine sales in grocery stores. I’ll say this…they are all on the same page, short as it is. I heard the exact same arguments each time, and I have to admit even the most compelling is probably not [...]
The battle for wine in grocery stores is hitting the editorial pages of the Tennessean, with a couple of guests exclaiming the virtues of Tennessee’s segregated retail system. A Baptist Preacher out in Mt. Juliet shares his thoughts:Tennesseans from e…
ABC bad, Toyota good. This is a screen capture that the Gawker blog made from the ABC News report on Toyota acceleration. It’s the part in the video where, immediately after the professor shorts out the system and the Toyota Avalon accelerates quickly. ABC News shows the tach racing to 6,000 RPM. Notice that the car [...]
She is in the middle of the page, sitting happily on her pillow.I was there when she was born to her mother (in the foreground), and I was there with her this morning when I had to say goodbye. She had developed pancreatic problems and suffered cerebr…
We feed hummingbirds around our house and have for decades. They’re aggressive little buggers for something that small. They’ll run competitors off in a heartbeat and they don’t hesitate to let people know if they’re in the way as well. So it comes as a big surprise to me to learn that Preying Mantises will [...]
It appears that we are on the precipice of something rarely seen in Washington these days…a bi-partisan consensus on something. I know, I know, its shocking…breathe slowly, but apparently upwards of one Republican has been willing to work with Dem…
People, I repeat: there’s a dog treat on my dining room floor.
Something was very wrong with Mrs. Wigglebottom yesterday. Her gut was making all kinds of terrible noises and she was very, very tentative on the stairs during the millions of times we took her out to see if she was going to, oh, you [...]
Walt Baker is writing the book on it…Quite amazing isn’t it? This guy manages to alienate friends and see his business collapse in a matter of days all because he was careless with the list of people he forwarded a chain email to. I almost feel sor…
There’s this idea that you can’t win in politics if you tell the truth when the truth sucks. This is probably true, but it makes things difficult when the sucking truth is one we all need to face.
So, I was heartened to read over at Kleinheider’s that Haslam was willing to say this out loud.
Unemployment [...]
Just a reminder that the NIH VBAC Consensus Development conference continues tomorrow and can be watched online following the link at http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/vbac.htm. Today’s archive isn’t up yet, but should be “within a few days.”
Filed under: Birth, Events & Observances, Government, Women’s Health 
I went out to the garage this morning to find my back tire flat and the front one on the way to joining it. The Butcher put enough air in the back one so that I could get to the tire place where they informed me that I needed new tires, which, coincidentally, was what [...]
Yes, I think when it comes to Sarah Palin, the word “hustle” is apt:
Medicine Hat News reports on a speech Sarah Palin gave in Calgary (tickets as low as $150), where a folksy monologue took a shocking turn — an admission about how her family received health care.
We used to hustle over the border for health care we received in Canada. And I think now, isn’t that ironic.Palin, born in Idaho, lived in Wasilla, Alaska for most of her life. The nearest city in Canada, Whitehorse, is a 15 hour drive away. Anchorage is only 45 minutes away. I definitely want to hear more about this.
Indeed.
Let’s also remember that as governor of Alaska, Palin accepted free health, dental and veterinary care for remote Alaskan villages courtesy of Uncle Sam and U.S taxpayers, called “Operation Arctic Care.” While I won’t question that decision–these villages are some of the poorest in the nation and are in desperate need of assistance–I do think it’s a tad hypocritical to criticize “government giveaways” on the one hand, while taking the same on the other.
And as for this healthcare thing, well, she can just take a big steaming cup of STFU next time she wants to open her yap about “socialized medicine” and “death panels.”
People, that’s all I want to write about. It’s all I want to think about. I was having kind of a grouchy morning yesterday and then we went out there and it was like… I don’t even know. The river and the straight layers of rocks on the bluff and the big old trees and [...]
It appears you’ve stumbled upon our site. We’re still in development at the moment, but feel free to take a look around. Over the next several weeks we’ll be making improvements and an official announcement. Until then, thanks for helping us kick the wheels, we’ll see ya on the flip side.
admin @ January 16, 2009
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Dear TNDP,
Man, it’s a total gyp that you want me to go dutch with you on a lunch with Chip. I mean, clear to Rutherford County? Please. I guess I could probably jerry rig my brother’s car together in order to get there, but what if someone else welshes on their meal? Who’s going to pick up that tab?
Etc. etc. etc.
I know I’m always the killjoy about this nonsense, but, please, in the future, if you want to use a word or phrase that contains a nationality or ethnicity or ethnic slur as an integral part of it, wikipedia that shit beforehand and then just choose something else. Please. I am begging you.
Yours,
b.
Aunt B. @ March 10, 2010
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My seeds have shipped, which means that soon they will arrive, which means that soon after that, I will be sitting in my house, seed packets in hand, imagining exactly where I’ll put them and what they’ll grown up to be and on and on.
And it will be all I can do to not go into my yard and put tiny seeds in wet dirt.
Must wait until April 15th. Must wait.
Shoot, I can’t wait! Woo hoo.
Aunt B. @ March 10, 2010
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Basically, what I said here, but without the bone-crushing depression.
Aunt B. @ March 10, 2010
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It appears that Michelle Bachmann and Joe Biden had the same English teacher when it came to the word "literally":"That's why with everything within us we need to start literally banging garbage lids together, to create enough noise so that our neighbors and our co-workers realize where the time clock is at this point, because the second hand is literally banging up against 11:59 on the clock on freedom when it comes to health care."
Sean Braisted @ March 10, 2010
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Ha. Well. Every once in a while, I’m lucky (or blessed, if you prefer) enough to experience a feeling of being connected, even if only for a nanosecond, with another human being. Of course I’m not talking about the kind of connection we experience through the familiarities of family or friendship, or even marriage, but rather the unexpected and often unrecognized connection that occurs when you and another being’s thinking is identical and simultaneous.
I woke up this morning questioning my need to, well, question. Sometimes friends tell me I tend to over-think things, that perhaps it is preferable to just accept the conventional wisdom and move on. Its certainly easier, I can tell you that. Anyway, as is my habit, I went to read a paragraph of “The Book” by Alan Watts, and it was both comforting and unsettling that in it he talked about the virtue of questioning everything. Not five minutes ago, a good friend sent me a link to this article about a book written by a Nashvillian named David Dark. The title? “The Sacredness Of Questioning Everything.” I can’t wait to read the book. But the timing was uncanny.
Still, I hope to learn a process, a framework, if you will, for this endless soul-searching. (The church never even came close to providing it, so please forgive me if I dismiss any advice that I seek it there.) I’m pretty sure that we cannot do any real introspection or conscienciously question anything if we don’t develop the process for it ourselves, as I have stated before, a roadmap does me little good if I’m not sure of my destination.
Yesterday, I was laughing with a friend about that day’s post at The Chronicles. I’ve been struggling of late to complete a posting and hit the “publish” button. Anyway, in a world beset by widespread poverty, genocide, war, and living in a country plagued by crippling partisanship, rampant hostility and economic crisis, I chose to write about the sale of wine in grocery stores. That tickled me. I think I did that because I thought (erroneously) that I knew the right answer, and all I would have to do is talk to a few people, then stake out a position and defend it. So, I did that. Satisfied, I grabbed a handful of discs and headed out to the back pasture with the dogs to practice my back-hand. I launched maybe three drives before the voices in my head started. “Look at you, all smug because you think you’re right”. “What if that were you in that position?” “By the way, shouldn’t you be repairing that fence over there?” This was when I picked up my scattered discs, and slinked back inside to collect my scattered thoughts.
I thought about the title of my last post. Change is Painful For Some. It should have just said Change Is Painful. I know that the word “painful” seems subjective, that its use suggests I have already determined that change is something to be endured rather than embraced. But much like the pain that accompanies the rebuilding of muscle, sometimes pain is rewarding and necessary. But I’m pretty sure I used the word yesterday because I could sense pain in the man’s voice as he explained to me why he was against the proposed legislation. I could shoot down his arguments in no time flat, sure, but I took no joy in it. Seriously, it took me the rest of the day to decide that it had to be enough that I could feel empathy, that hearing this man and considering his feelings were gifts he gave me. I’m telling you, I feel way better today about it than I did yesterday.
So, whats next?
Mr. Mack @ March 10, 2010
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There are a lot of reasons why some people oppose health card reform, I know. The one I don’t understand is one espoused mostly by younger people: they don’t want to pay for something they don’t need right now.
I understand the feeling. What I don’t see is why this is felt to be any different than car insurance, which you have to have before a car dealer can finalize the sale, or any number of other things we as a people pay for because the social ends justify it.
And car insurance is just the tip of the iceberg. Look around you at work ( if you work): see any spinning machinery open so you can stick your hand in it and have a free amputation? Didn’t think so. Protection from things in your work environment that can hurt you are prevented by laws and that cost is passed right on to you. Don’t relish paying for it? Don’t worry. If you buy stuff from China, you aren’t paying for it – trust me. That’s a big part of why it costs less. Don’t have a job either? Sorry, that’s also related to that lower costs in China thing. How’s that lower costy stuff workin’ for ya?
Got a car with air bags or seat belts? Every second you are in the car, you fully expect to NEVER need either one. But you have both. And the list goes on and on. Emergancy brake, 911 service, fire departments, police, etc.
I never expected to need health insurance either, and didn’t until I was 33 had had a kidney stone surgically removed. Now, because that happened, if my employer didn’t offer insurance I would be ineligible to get insurance, simply because I actually use it. (I know. What was I thinking? I shoulda just died – but then my wife would have collected on the life insurance, another thing I pay for and never expect to get anything personal from it myself (except a warm feeling my corpse will not get in the cold, cold ground.)
jim @ March 10, 2010
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One of my fondest memories, something I still tease my mom about, is going with her to the movie theater in Morris to see The Lost Boys for a dollar (or, I guess, two; one for each of us). This may have been my first R-rated movie in a theater.
And it was so crappy! The theater, not the movie, which I still love. But the whole middle reel was missing, so the movie didn’t make sense. And my mom still screamed the whole way through it. And, you know, this was a dollar theater in a small town in Illinois. She was the only adult in the theater.
AND THE HIGH SCHOOL KIDS TURNED AROUND TO SHUSH HER!!!!
My mom got shushed by high school kids.
I was so mortified.
But we still laugh about that.
I hung pictures of Corey Haim on my wall and River Phoenix and Johnny Depp. Weird that only Depp’s left.
Aunt B. @ March 10, 2010