The Volunteer Tailgate Party

Half-Bakered is a proud member of the Rocky Top Brigade (Motto: "RTB is TCB"), a collection of bloggers in, from and around Tennessee; bloggers who are ex-pat or wannabe Tennesseans, or who just love the Tennessee vibe. It's a motley crew covering the political spectrum, blogging from the deeply personal to the highly intellectual, talking about life where they are in varying degrees, deadly serious to blackly comic. Like the State we love, you can discover some of everything in the RTB.

Every so often, as a service to you the reader, we like to host a Whitman Quality Sampler of RTB writings, to tempt you into reading blogs you may not yet know that you'll love. In honor of a long-standing football tradition, we call it the Volunteer Tailgate Party. Like any good sampler, this edition will tempt you with tasty morsels of a delectable variety.

Thomas of the Newsrack Blog (Motto: "Fair and balanced news and opinion commentary by Thomas Nephew. Can you hear me now?") sends along two posts. The first is his list of blogs he's recently discovered. The second is his tale of attending the second Bush inaugural:

I saw that people were just walking by the lines I was in, and decided to try my luck wherever they were headed. That took me down to near 7th and C, where things got a little dicier. A group came marching down the street waving red and black flags, turned the corner, and were lost from my view -- if I'd had one, I had the hood on as they went by. I then made what was nearly a bad mistake and followed them -- in time to see several PVC pipes and assorted other sticks (used to hold banners) tossed high in the air and towards a line of police. I believe I said "Oh boy."

Oh my! You'll have to read the post to see what happened.

Real life friend Mark of The Conservative Zone (Motto: "Thoughts of a Conservative living with Mental Illness") sent along this post on understanding the liberal mind:

I have wanted to comment on Ward Churchill's essay/speech that has caused quite a controversy. He calls the 9/11 terrorists "Combat teams," and he calls the WTC the "Little Eichmanns." I haven't commented upon this because I wanted to see the original essay before commenting. Well, I found it here and I want you to read it. Nay, I command you to read it, because it is glaring in its inconsistencies and lack of congruency with the real world.

No punches pulled here.

Queen Medb (Motto: "thoughts, photos, miscellany") sends along a pair of photo links. My meager descriptions will have to suffice. The first is a gorgeous, meditative, sepia-toned photo of a graveside angel. The second thoughtfully contrasts early Spring and lingering Winter. Both are very nice.

Moving along, we come to Holding Down the Fort, by Nathan Fortner. He also has a photo post, with pics from his trip to the inaugural. Be sure to scroll down to the street-level view of a flag-draped Capitol. Sitrs my patriotism, it does. His essay post looks at post-Soviet Russia with some trepidation:

Many considered the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Russian Republic to be a big step towards freedom in the old USSR. Are things really going that way though? Anyone keeping up with Russian politics will most likely give you a stout 'No'. During the presidency of Boris Yeltsin, corruption was, undoubtedly, rampant through the Russian government. However, with the election of Vladimir Putin, things reached a new level.

An old evil is rearing its ugly head.

Buddy Don, the Wandering Hillbilly, sent a stack of posts covering his views on the reform of Social Security! Buddy Don writes as he speaks:

thays been a slew of articulls lately on soshul securty. them thats been trine to dismantle it frum the day twuz started claim tiz in a crisis, that we gut to do sumthin now or face a day of reckonin.

when is that day? this feller name of edwin j feulner over at the heritage foundation claims tiz 2018. heres how he puts this dishonest claim:

The revered entitlement program seems fine, but it needs fixing. Starting in 2018, Social Security will start paying out more than it takes in through taxes.

tiz a common lie thats bein tole all over the place. fack is, soshul securty has dun been payin in add vants jes to cover this day, witch we started a'doon that back when president raygun n alan greenspan raised soshul securty taxes on us all back in 1983. that money wuz spozed to be locked away n makin a good rate of interst in a verr secure investment, u.s. gummint bonds.

now tiz gittin close to time to pay em back n folks lack dr feulner wonts us to thank they shouldnt have to pay us whut they owe. n no wunder: ifn thar a'gone make good on that debt, they wont be able to make them tax cuts on the rich a permanent thang. we dun spent all the money on tax cuts fer the rich n a unneeded war in iraq, a'wipin out the surplus without payin off no bills, n runnin up the highest deficit in our histry.

Much more here, here, here, here, here, and here. No blog slouch is our Buddy Don.

Stick your finger into the center of the box and you find our Fearless Leader, Mr. RTB himself, South Knox Bubba (Motto: "OK, then.") His contribution is this somewhat surprising admission:

I believe businesses should not be in the business of delivering health insurance. Not because it will save companies money (which is clearly why Bush and the GOP want to end it). But because it injects employers into their employees private lives in areas that are none of their business. It also makes it harder for an employee to change jobs if they or someone in their family has a preexisting condition.

It also leaves families without a source of health insurance when employees jobs are "downsized" or outsourced. It would be like if employers provided electricity as part of their compensation. Lose your job, they cut off your power, even if you have rainy day savings to get you by until you find another job. And COBRA doesn't help. Small business aren't required to offer it. Companies that do offer it make it so expensive that few can afford it.

But worst of all, it leaves the self-employed, underemployed, and unemployed without access to health insurance.

Ok, it's not such a surprise if you're a regular reader. Which you should be! Ok, then.

Janet's Dagley Dagley Daily (Motto: "Covering the world from the waterfront in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA") offers a triplet of goodies:

Here's my contribution, a series of photo animations of ice on the Hudson River here in the Hoboken, NJ outpost of the RTB.

See? I told you we were everywhere. Check 'em out here, here and here.

From Paisley Dreams, Libby tells us about a very special doll:

Anyway, I was terrified. I hadn't spent a lot of time playing with girls. What would she want to do? Play with dolls? I didn't have any dolls. So, I did what almost every little girl does at some point: I asked my parents for a Barbie. Well, my parents made a move that probably saved them billions of dollars over the next few years, and don't think I don't think they did this for that reason (I just haven't asked). What did they do?

What indeed. You'll have to read to learn the humorous -- and admirable -- answer.

WGBV (Motto: "You'll Always Find a Fifth") reminds us that "almost only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades" with a heartbreak photo.

Tiring from the many treats you've tasted? Let's stop at the Inn of the Last Home, then. Barry has a couple of things to share. First, there's music "Based on a Cro-Magnon skinning chant" that's unplayable! Look at the score excerpts only if you dare. He also share a vignette of life with his family:

BrainyBoy v8.9 has the flu. Or a reasonable facsmile thereof.

I don't think it's the real flu - we'll find out a diagnosis in a little while.

Wednesday morning he woke up...well, woke up yakking for want of a better term. I stayed with him until Laura relieved me at 2, then I came in to work. He had a fever approaching 103 the rest of that day, though his stomach had settled somewhat before I left.

He spent yesterday at his grandmother's, and - a treat for him - got to sleep on the couch last night. Fever this morning was in the low 100's, unmedicated, so there's hope for him yet.

As he was dozing last night, about 10pm, I was sitting in a chair nearby watching TV. He takes after me, as all good sons should, and was snoring softly. Abruptly I noticed movement and I noticed his hands were moving. He'd picked up part of the comforter I'd thrown over him, and was moving the little fringes around rapidly right in front of his face. I looked more closely, and he was really moving the fringe up and down.

I stood and walked over with trepidation. Looking up at me with an odd, goofy expressions, he smiled and said, "I'm making the little people move!".

Uh oh. How does it end? Read some more on his blog to meet Giggle Girl.

Allow me to inject a bit of personal opinion here. (Hey, it's my blog after all....) Say Uncle (Motto of the day: "An unapproved 2nd Amendment zone.") doesn't blog as much on his family life as he used to. I miss that. On the other hand, if we get posts like this -- a readerpoll on choosing between an AR or AK rifle, with a lively discussion thread -- and
this:

This thread really reinforces this notion that gun owners are racists and homophobes. Note the references to being anti-gay is OK because gays are typically anti-gun. They imply the same thing regarding American Jews. Pretty abysmal stuff.

They don’t realize or don’t care that the number of gun owners in this country seems to decrease (though there was a post 9/11 spike in gun sales) and we are the minority. By a alienating any particular group, they do a disservice to gun rights. There are a few gay gun nuts who are better to have as allies than enemies.

You'll have to read the post to find out the thread and the links! It concludes with a pungent observation.

Smijer (Motto: "STOP TERROR STOP TORTURE STOP GONZALES") rebuts some other bloggers on the Gonzales nomination for Attorney General:

The Gonzales nomination is a chance for every Senator, every blogger, and every citizen to answer a call to conscience. We can oppose confirmation and show the world that we do not promote those who try to craft legal protection for torture and abuse, or we can do nothing and show the world that we truly believe ourselves to be above the law. Call your senator today, and encourage others to do so as well!

Some good point-by-point takedowns to think about, neat and efficient.

Hello! Putting this post together, I found a blog I should be reading: Bob Stepno's Other Journalism Weblog (Motto: " Explorations of personal and community journalism online..."). As he says:

I've been watching for Knoxville-area local non-blog RSS feeds... Bubba pointed to one on the same day that the News Sentinel had an article /about/ RSS, so the coincidence became an excuse to surf around and find a few more.

See what he found. If you are a blogger or a blog reader, RSS is important to be familiar with. This is a quick and informative read.

Alright, let's take a quick breather right about here. Leave some room for the treats to come.

Goobage! (Motto: "statisticulating with the best, fact-checking the rest") Don't you love the name? This blog is the caramel in our sampler. Rich and chewy. Auntie Goob's posts are always chock full o' facts for you to work over. Like this:

That bastion of socialist propaganda, the Tennessean, recently printed articles about evaluating schools using "value-added" scores. One article discusses the nation-wide adoption of the in-bred Tennessee system....

Over half a million annually may not seem like much, but how many half-millions does it take to get to real money? After all, this only amounts to ten cents per citizen. Of course, that's not the only goob foisted on the taxpayers. Who paid for developing the method?

What method? That would be telling....

Gunner over at No Quarters (Motto: "One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."), links to R. Lee Wrights' post, "I am a criminal." It's a biting look at the omnipresence of law and regulation in our lives. Gunner adds:

In a sadistic act the government has started playing games with regulations on travel. You have to follow them, and yet they will not tell you what they are. Then there are the instant laws. Regulations handed down by government officers that have the full penalty of law behind them, yet were never voted on and passed. For every law I think there are probably two regulations. All that fine print in government offices that you have to follow, or else.

Gunny's been in the hospital lately, so send good thoughts and prayers his way.

Satire! Not a flavor for everyone, but a delight for some. At WhitesCreek Journal (Motto: "Thoughts to share from White's Creek gorge.") he lists his reasons why, if elected State Senator, he will not serve:

3. I don't believe that Jesus wants us to kill Iraqi women and children. See, I am not much of anything, much less, a Baptist. To be elected around here you have to go to a lot of churches and just sit there smiling while preachers say nasty things about the people sitting in other churches saying nasty things about people sitting in other churches. The last church I tried to attend had a good friend of mine as the preacher. He learned fairly quickly to not ask me what I thought about the sermon as we shook hands in the doorway out of there. "Don, that sermon made as much sense as anything else I've heard you say, " I came around to saying and my wife would look very relieved that I hadn't said, "Oh, Bullshit, Don."

Steve sent in this entry with the following comment: "How am I supposed to know what's good and what's not?" An interesting and honest admission. But I don't think he's got anything to worry about.

A quick disclaimer: Soulfish Stew (Motto: "Never Go Hungry Again.") and I are members of the Blogcritics, as well as the RTB, though he's active and I'm not at the moment. Search for his name there for more great posts like this one about his formative influences in his teenage years. In his second submission he writes:

The place was named Phranks N Steins. We were too young to ever attend the rock shows Rick Champion soon started featuring there. Heck, we didn’t even know where the place was. Somewhere out on West End? But the legend is that this event kick started a post 1978 Nashville rock and roll revolution. This is where this survey of Nashville’s rock and roll past begins.

Wally Bangs - I called up good friend and once local Middle Tennesse resident Dr. DD Blank and asked him to come up with a list of 20 great Nashville music artists of the last 27 years. I was to do the same. I would then combine the lists with commentary from both of us. That gave us way more than 20 on the list though it is far from including every great local rock and roll act from this time frame. Whether you’re from Nash Vegas or not let us know what you think we’ve missed. Enjoy.

Nashville20+ Part One of a four part series.

I can't wait for the rest of this. Though I'm not a Nashvillain, I did know two of the bands they discuss. And he namechecks The White Animals, who I saw many times in several cities back in the day. A wonderful trip into the regional musical past.

What Can Brown Do For You? (Motto: "John Brown's take on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.") Good question and he provides excellent answers! In his first post, we get more photos from the Bush inaugural. Then John turns his attention to the future, with his predictions for 2005:

The Bush Administration will push through Social Security reform including allowing investment in private accounts, despite some nay-saying Republicans. The AARP will fight this to the end, proving how much they care about young people. This will cause a new group, a version of the AARP for taxpayers under age 35, which will lobby for even more reforms, possibly even the total privatization of Social Security. Politicians, seeing a chance to gain voters for the next 50 or so years (as opposed to only the next few years, as is the case with seniors), will begin to pander to the youth with as much zeal as Ted Kennedy panders to grandma. Trent Lott will be interviewed on MTV. Bill Frist will be a guest voice on "South Park." Bill Clinton will appear on "Blind Date." Voters under 30 will respond with apathy.

Bush will also announce his plans to reform the tax system. Before seeing his plans, Democrats will denounce them as "tax cuts for the rich."

UT President John Peterson, by serving in his post for two years, will become UT's longest serving president in half a decade.

Ouch! And that's just the start.

Lastly, we have your humble host, Half-Bakered. No links needed, just scroll down. Catblogging, Memphis politics, the global baby bust, apartment fires, Strongbad email, it's all good. I hope you enjoy me as much as all the other blogs you've sampled so far.

But we have reached an end. That's it for our sampler. I hope it wasn't too long, too filling. Make with the link clicky-clicky, widen your interests, expand your tastes. Take a chance on some of the other links in the blogroll in the righthand column. It's a box full of goodness in the Rocky Top Brigade. Thanks for reading. Be good or be careful.