...so I just wanted to let you all know that I wasn't taken up with the Rapture last weekend. 

 That said, I do feel as though I've been rescued from the bowels of Hell, now that the Tennessee General Assembly has finally adjourned. Read full post »

Tennesseee State Representative Glen Casada, who is sponsoring a bill to make it a crime--a crime, people!--for labor organizations to make  contributions to political candidates (HB 0160), is, at the same time sponsoring a bill to increase contribution limits and to allow corporations… Read full post »

Here's how: 

I attended the State Senate Education Committee meeting this morning, and one of the Senators on the Committee who supports repealing the teacher bargaining law said that one of the problems with a union is that a majority of employees can vote to recognize a bargaining representati… Read full post »

I remember when I was a kid growing up in the 60's and early 70's and how different people's attitudes were back then.  For example, if you saw someone who had something good that you didn't have, you aspired to have that good thing for yourself, and so you worked or… Read full post »

"This is America, where a white Catholic male Republican judge was murdered on his way to greet a Democratic Jewish woman member of Congress, who was his friend. Her life was saved initially by a 20-year-old Mexican-American gay college student, and eventually by a Korean-American combat surgeon, all… Read full post »

I expect every damn one of you who voted to repeal the healthcare law to immediately, and I mean, immediately, relinguish your coverage under the federally funded health care plan that is provided to members of the House.

 Otherwise, you're a rank hypocrite. Read full post »

...a 24-year-old man named Harry Burns, a representative in the Tennessee General Assembly, cast the deciding vote, and Tennessee became the 36th (the Perfect 36) and deciding state to ratify the 19th amendment. And Harry cast that vote in favor of women's suffrage, while wearing the red rose of the… Read full post »

Welcome home, Atlantis.  You were a good ship.

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..."Burn, baby, burn!" doesn't seem to excite the tea party conservatives nearly as much as "Drill, baby, drill!" did.

And today, my cup runneth over with awesomesauce.

First, a little history.  We have IMHO a beautiful statue at Music Circle called Musica.  It was created by reknowned sculptor Alan LeQuire.  There was much controversy when Musica was first contemplated, because the figures were,… Read full post »

Fifty years ago today, four very brave young men sat down at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and changed the course of American history. I cannot imagine having that kind of courage.

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On one hand, I do work for and belong to a union, and unions benefit from your decision. OTOH, corporations have a helluva lot more money than unions, who get their money from individual member contributions, could ever dream of having.   So the political playing field has now been overwhel… Read full post »

"Dude, condoms."

...on the most recent Pat Robertson brouhaha.

 "Dude.  STFU." Read full post »

...when a commercial comes on, celebrating the nobility of the family farmer and responsible land use. And guess who sponsored this commercial?  Go ahead, guess.  Nope, guess again.

Wait for  it.

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

It was Monsanto. That's right.  Monsanto.  No, the iro… Read full post »

My extended, forced Christmas vacation, during which I am banned from the office until January 4, 2010, starts in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

 Merry Christmas, everyone! Read full post »

...about the Tiger Woods story than I do now, but I will give it the old college try.

What, exactly, does banning minarets really accomplish?  It isn't like devout Muslims in Switzerland will stop being devout Muslims in Switzerland, simply because of architecture.  They could ban every steeple on every church in America, and I would still be an Episcopalian.&… Read full post »

 ...to all the veterans who have served in the United States armed forces, including my father, who served in the Navy in the late 50's.  We honor your service.

  Read full post »

Because words fail me. 

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Both of Tennessee's U.S. Senators voted with the minority against Senator Al Franken's amendment to the defense appropriations bill, which stated that the federal government would withhold defense contracts from companies (Can you say "Halliburton"?) that restrict their employees from taking workplac… Read full post »

Michelle: This is some rescue. When you came in here, didn’t you have a plan for getting out? Read full post »

Rest in peace, Senator Kennedy.  We will not see your like again.

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I'm going to do it anyway. This is a pic of an actual protest sign from a town hall meeting in Dallas.



Do you see the intellectual disconnect, written in careful blue letters? Medicare and Medicaid is healthcare, and nationalized healthcare, at that. My Aunt Jean is 82 years old, and she… Read full post »