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April 2008 - Posts

Frank Capra film warned of climate change 50 years ago

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:56 PM
The 1958 Frank Capra educational film The Unchained Goddess contains a specific and prophetic warning about excess carbon dioxide emissions from industry and transportation, and their potential to trigger catastrophic global warming: Even now, Man may
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Another night of bliss at the Northshore Brasserie

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 11:10 PM
As I mentioned recently , the Northshore Brasserie is one of two authentic French restaurants in Knoxville. Tonight, I joined four friends for another evening of exquisitely prepared classic French dishes. Just like the last time the five of us dined
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Poll: Where do you think the price of oil will be in one year?

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 5:49 PM
Here's my first poll: Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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$200 a barrel coming soon?

Monday, April 28, 2008 10:45 PM
I'm not one to automatically trust the word of any OPEC minister, but this quote from Chakib Khelil, Algeria's energy minister, bears some consideration : Opec's president on Monday warned oil prices could hit $200 a barrel and there would be little the
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The quasi-weekly roundup

Sunday, April 27, 2008 11:02 AM
R. Neal has this week's edition of the quasi-weekly TennViews blog roundup. See what Tennessee progressives have been posting about here . Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Friday "Lost" blogging: "The Shape Of Things To Come"

Friday, April 25, 2008 9:48 PM
If the title of this week's "Lost" episode (" The Shape Of Things To Come ") is to be taken literally, we're in for a mighty exciting ride in future episodes. This episode was tight, the narrative was fast-paced and controlled, and the story jumped forward
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McCain's Pander Bus stops in New Orleans, lies to the Lower 9th

Thursday, April 24, 2008 11:14 PM
John McCain's "Pander To Anyone I Can Think Of" tour has made a particularly shameless stop in New Orleans. In the still-devastated Lower Ninth Ward, the poorest and most heavily damaged area of the city, McCain had the gall to say this : "Never again
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House prevents Bush from sticking it to the poor (again)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 9:20 PM
By a lopsided vote of 349-62, the House of Representatives voted today to impose a moratorium on seven regulations promulgated by the Bush White House which would have eliminated $13 billion in Medicaid funding for health care for the poor. Every House
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Quote of the day (on the Democratic race)

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 1:07 PM
In a comment here , the inimitable Betty Bean said: Is it too late to draft Gore? My sentiments exactly. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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All the news that fits (onto a smaller page)

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 10:32 PM
The rapidly shriveling newspaper industry has seen many papers adopt a smaller size to save costs. One Maryville paper has decided to spin the decay of their business model a bit more creatively : Instead of shrinking staff, the Maryville Daily Times
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Want!

Monday, April 21, 2008 10:38 PM
Here it is, the birthday present I really, really want (even though my birthday is nearly five months away): When we first saw the [Nikon] D3 before it was officially launched I'll admit there were some raised eyebrows, and the first question was 'is
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Happy blogiversary to me

Sunday, April 20, 2008 7:56 PM
Today is my first blogiversary. Yay! Now, who brought the cake? Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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2008 Rossini Festival

Saturday, April 19, 2008 10:22 PM
I spent most of the day at the 2008 Rossini Festival in downtown Knoxville. It was a blast, and I'm exhausted. Just like last year , rain threatened this year's street party. Unlike last year, the rain stopped right before the street festival started.
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Quote of the day (on drug testing)

Thursday, April 17, 2008 2:46 PM
From Cathy , on her husband Doug (seen in comments here ): Doug would pass a drug screen. Crazy doesn't show up in body fluids. (He may be drug-free, but I'm reasonably sure Doug never sleeps.) Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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The Pope sticks his nose where it doesn't belong

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:20 PM
Pope Benedict gave an address in Washington today in which he derided our country's founding principle of separation between church and state. Our nation's firewall between clerical and legal authority really seemed to bother him. Arguing for an even
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Bizarre story of FBI abusing its power

Tuesday, April 15, 2008 10:04 PM
The FBI has always had the ability to obtain evidence through subpoenas issued by judges. In a case tangentially related to the 2005 London bombings, an FBI agent lawfully obtained a subpoena for the seizure of certain records from a suspect at North
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"Liberal" media? Yeah, right

Monday, April 14, 2008 6:22 PM
Number of Google News hits on Obama's "bitter" remark: 2006 Number of Google Blog Search hits on the same remarks: 3757 Number of Google News hits on Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Kentucky) calling Obama " boy ": 64 Number of Google Blog Search hits on the same
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Reliance on food stamps rising in Tennessee

Monday, April 14, 2008 2:38 PM
According to this KNS story , 407,000 households in Tennessee were enrolled in the federal food stamps program in March. The Census Bureau estimates that there are 2.4 million occupied households in Tennessee; that means 17 percent of households in this
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Quote of the day (on Iraq)

Sunday, April 13, 2008 7:13 PM
The quote of the day comes from today's NYT editorial : We believe that the fight against Al Qaeda is the central battle for this generation, but Mr. Bush’s claim that Iraq is the main front is wrong. That is Afghanistan, and the United States is in real
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The TennViews weekly roundup, April 13, 2008

Sunday, April 13, 2008 1:28 PM
This week's "Freezing in April" edition of the TennViews blog roundup is here . Go see what Tennessee progressives are talking about. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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The distraction du jour: Obama's comments on alienation

Saturday, April 12, 2008 9:25 PM
Barack Obama said this yesterday : "In a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long. ... The jobs have been gone now for 25 years, and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through
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Friday evening stroll around the blogroll

Friday, April 11, 2008 9:45 PM
I'm feeling lazy this rainy Friday evening, so here are some excerpts from recent posts by the fine people inhabiting my blogroll. Juan Cole sums up the current state of the nation: Now Bush has now turned over the decision-making about the course of
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On the Olympic torch protests

Thursday, April 10, 2008 10:26 PM
When China was awarded the 2008 Olympics seven years ago, the executive director of the International Olympic Committee made the announcement with breathtaking naiveté : Beijing was the front-runner throughout the race, even with criticism about its human
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Petraeus shills for Bush again

Tuesday, April 08, 2008 10:19 PM
General David Petraeus gave one of his patented dog-and-pony shows before the Senate Armed Services Committee today, in which he suggested that the administration's failed strategy in Iraq should be given even more time to continue failing : Telling Congress
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The horrid Colombia "Free" Trade Agreement, in a nutshell

Tuesday, April 08, 2008 1:11 PM
President Bush signed the Colombia Free Trade Agreement yesterday and sent it to Congress for consideration, over the objections of practically anyone with a conscience : President Bush’s decision to send the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to
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Growing urgency on climate change

Monday, April 07, 2008 10:29 PM
We've ignored the climate change problem for too long, and it may already be too late to do anything about it. The international targets for atmospheric carbon dioxide are currently pegged at 550 parts per million. According to James Hansen, that level
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Wretched excess at the Northshore Brasserie

Sunday, April 06, 2008 12:52 PM
Last night, I joined four friends for dinner at the Northshore Brasserie for a birthday celebration. The verdict: wow. The Northshore Brasserie is one of two authentic French restaurants in Knoxville (I'm not including The Orangery in that list, since
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Some thoughts on Rob Curley's presentation

Friday, April 04, 2008 4:50 PM
Last night, I attended a dinner sponsored by the UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media, as part of this week's conference on Web journalism . I felt honored to be invited (since I'm not a journalist); I attended with some friends , and I also had
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Two howlers on domestic surveillance

Wednesday, April 02, 2008 9:34 PM
Two stories came out today on the deepening problem of unwarranted and unconstrained domestic surveillance in the ongoing War On Your Liberty; each of the two stories contains assurances by government officials that don't even pass the snicker test. The
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Majority of US doctors support single payer health care

Tuesday, April 01, 2008 9:10 PM
A new survey has concluded that 59 percent of US doctors support a national, single-payer health insurance plan, while only 32 percent of doctors oppose the idea. That's a huge shift from the last survey, done just six years ago, which found 49 percent
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