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December 2007 - Posts

Integrity, principle, and decency

Monday, December 31, 2007 5:35 PM
Those three words are among the traits sadly lacking in the Bush White House; today's New York Times editorial holds nothing back in speaking the truth so many Americans refuse to hear: There are too many moments these days when we cannot recognize our
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My experiences with Windows Vista so far

Sunday, December 30, 2007 7:25 PM
I've had my new computer set up for about a week now, so I've had some time to play with Windows Vista (Home Premium, not that the version matters very much). So far, so good. I have an HP with an AMD 64 X2 dual core processor, 3 GB RAM, a 400 GB SATA
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Bush protects the wrong people, and TSA doesn't protect anybody

Saturday, December 29, 2007 4:03 PM
Two (mostly) unrelated stories caught my eye today; both have to do with protecting the wrong interests. First, President Bush has refused to sign a defense spending bill; his reasons were curious : And then Friday, with no warning, a vacationing Bush
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Musharraf walks a tightrope

Friday, December 28, 2007 9:19 PM
In the wake of Benazir Bhutto's assassination in Rawalpindi, Pakistan yesterday, the country continues to descend into chaos . President Pervez Musharraf has some tough choices ahead of him, none of which appear particularly appealing. The death of Musharraf's
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Urbi et Orbi

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 10:53 AM
The Pope said this in his 2007 Urbi et Orbi speech: Benedict said he was turning his thoughts this Christmas to victims of other injustices, citing women, children and the elderly, as well as refugees and victims of environmental disasters and religious
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CIA covering up more of its crimes

Saturday, December 22, 2007 9:28 PM
This should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone: Former members and staffers of the 9/11 Commission have concluded that the CIA withheld videotapes of harsh interrogation sessions even after specific and "very detailed" requests about the two prisoners
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A heartwarming Christmas story

Thursday, December 20, 2007 9:46 AM
My paternal grandfather was a curmudgeon throughout his entire life. Christmas seemed to aggravate the condition. For nine or ten years, from the late 1950's through the mid-1960's, he taught at Gibbs High School here in Knox County (at that time, Gibbs
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McNally may disavow Sunshine Law changes

Wednesday, December 19, 2007 9:35 PM
This certainly speaks volumes : Sen. Randy McNally, chairman of the Legislature's Open Government Study Committee, says he is undecided about whether to sponsor a bill revising the state's Open Meetings Law as recommended by the panel. Traditionally,
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Breakthrough

Tuesday, December 18, 2007 11:56 PM
I mentioned yesterday that my sister has been very sick. She had a breakthrough today. Without getting into the gory details, I want to post an update that's adapted from a personal email I sent to a friend today: For the last several days, I've watched
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Sometimes life intervenes

Monday, December 17, 2007 11:26 PM
I know I haven't blogged much in the last couple of days, and I probably won't for a few days more. At the moment, I'm preoccupied by a personal matter that supersedes everything else. My baby sister is very sick, and the doctors don't know what's wrong
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Tennessee liberal blog roundup

Sunday, December 16, 2007 12:03 PM
Via TennViews , here's a list of what liberal bloggers in Tennessee have been saying: • 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera: The Myth of "Curing" Homosexuality , bonus: excellent Friday creature • Andy Axel: The view is exhausting • BlountViews: Mayor attacks
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Quote of the day (on Christmas)

Friday, December 14, 2007 11:37 AM
A Twitter update by the inimitable Newscoma : Must go shopping or my family will be getting Tampax and batteries for Christmas. I should probably create a Newscoma tag. Share this post: Email | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit
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Theme of the day: contempt

Thursday, December 13, 2007 8:38 PM
Contempt seems to be a common theme in today's news cycle: Josh Bolten and Karl Rove have been held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas in the US attorney firing scandal. The White House and the obstructionist Senate Republicans
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Quote of the day (on the economy)

Wednesday, December 12, 2007 1:06 PM
Found in comments here : Perhaps it's easier to sell a $500K home than a $50K home or even a $150K home because the rich are getting richer and the poor and middle class are getting 38% on their Discover card. You said it, Mamaw. Share this post: Email
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Ominous signs

Tuesday, December 11, 2007 8:53 PM
From the AP via HuffPo : An already relentless melting of the Arctic greatly accelerated this summer, a warning sign that some scientists worry could mean global warming has passed an ominous tipping point. One even speculated that summer sea ice would
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Officiousness at work

Monday, December 10, 2007 9:18 PM
In this post , Mark Harmon (the Knox County Commissioner and UT Professor, not this guy ) lays out a prime example of blind, officious obedience to arbitrary procedures trumping equitable treatment: UT's McNair Scholars program is a superb resource. It
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More torture evidence waiting to be destroyed

Monday, December 10, 2007 8:48 PM
After the revelation that the CIA had destroyed many hours of video proving they had used torture, this story takes on a new urgency : Lawyers for a British resident who the US government refuses to release from Guantanamo Bay have identified the existence
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ORNL data theft and me

Sunday, December 09, 2007 10:49 PM
Earlier this week, it was reported that hackers had compromised a database inside Oak Ridge National Laboratory; this database contained personal data on all visitors to ORNL from 1990 through 2004. The names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers,
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Carbon dioxide reduction may be cheaper than you think

Saturday, December 08, 2007 4:55 PM
Perhaps the most frequently cited canard used as an argument against reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the allegation that it would be prohibitively expensive; some extreme analyses have placed the estimate as high as $20 trillion. A new study shows
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Destroying evidence of their crimes

Friday, December 07, 2007 10:59 AM
The bombshell du jour should come as no surprise to anyone : The CIA made videotapes in 2002 of its officers administering harsh interrogation techniques to two al-Qaeda suspects but destroyed the tapes three years later, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden
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Newscoma nails it on open government

Thursday, December 06, 2007 8:10 PM
I've blogged previously about the ongoing efforts to eviscerate Tennessee's Open Meetings Law (see here , here , and here , all of which was prompted by this mess ) from the standpoint of an ordinary citizen. I'm not a journalist, nor do I have any connection
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Candidates should speak to the American worker

Wednesday, December 05, 2007 9:33 PM
Democratic candidates for the Presidency would do well to pay attention to the fundamental, structural issues facing the American workforce, issues which have so far been given short shrift by most of the candidates. First, the quality of the workplace
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In which I engage in wild speculation on Bush, Iran, Iraq, and the NIE

Tuesday, December 04, 2007 9:46 PM
For the last couple of years, the neocons and their puppets have been shouting about the dangers allegedly posed by Iran and its oh-so-scary nuclear program. Just two months ago, President Bush said this about the threat that Iran's nuclear program represented
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A forked tongue speaks in Bali

Monday, December 03, 2007 9:55 PM
The Bali conference on climate change has begun; its goal is to establish a framework for negotiating a treaty which will pick up the slack when the Kyoto protocol expires in 2012. The US delegation and the White House have been making public pronouncements
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To protect Bush from Abramoff disclosures, Justice grasps at straws

Sunday, December 02, 2007 9:40 PM
This is hardly surprising : The Bush administration is laying out a new secrecy defense in an effort to end a court battle about the White House visits of now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The administration agreed last year to produce all responsive
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Bredesen offers a glimmer of hope

Saturday, December 01, 2007 2:28 PM
The Tennessee state Legislature's Open Government Subcommittee recommended several changes to Tennessee's sunshine law this week, including a provision which would allow up to three members of County Commission to deliberate in secret. If even two members
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