Well, Dang

Real life has intervened for a couple of days, and I haven't blogged as I'd hoped. I should be back tomorrow, with an even bigger backlog! Yummy.

In the meantime, a whole lot of very good folks have some fascinating things to say on a diverse array of topics. Click on something on this list at left and be surprised.

See y'all tomorrow.

The Axis Of Weevil

Woohoo! Yours truly applied for and was accepted into the Axis of Weevil, a blogroll for present, former and wannabe Alabamians. I fall into the "former" category, as I moved from Alabama to Memphis about fifteen years ago. It's not unlike our own Rocky Top Brigade.

So, go to Possumblog and check around, or use the links added to the left. It's a great blog, and the rest of the Axis are a grand bunch of folks. If you're coming here through Possumblog, please check out the fine, fine Tennesseans (and others -- we have the same laxity generosity) who make up the RTB. I'm honored to be the blog-bridge between our two great States.

OK, I Mean It This Time

Really, I'm gone now. I know I say that further down, but this time I mean it. I have a very long day at work tomorrow (thanks Super Bowl!) and then on Monday, so I won't be blogging until Monday evening.

I still have a backlog! Two Tom Walter pieces from the Commercial Appeal, one on British TV comedy vs. American and the other on WPTY's news changes. I also have to read and study Bill Hobbs' TABOR white paper; you can learn more at TNTABOR.org and by reading the posts on Thursday and Friday at South Knox Bubba.

All right, that's it. Y'all be good and stay warm.

Only If They Strip

Rick Reilly, writing for CNN.SI, looks at the atrocious way that women's sports, and female athletes, are treated, at how real accomplishment isn't recognised and how women are still largely valued for their appearance. He makes a lot of very simple, but eye-opening points. Normally I don't follow sports at all (SHOCK! HORROR!), but this one caught my eye. And no, there aren't any pictures. Shame on you.

What Lawyers Can Learn From Comic Books

That's the title of this essay by Lawrence Lessig. I had forgotten to post it earlier, which is why it's slightly old.

Basically, Lessig looks at the way that Japanese comic and manga companies treat their fans and the way American lawyers do. We come up on the short end of the stick. He makes a lot of good points about it being a question of how companies view customers, and who decides how.

Instalanche

I don't recall having seen this word before, so I think SayUncle has coined it.

Instalanche: That avalanche of hits your site receives when Glenn Reynold's Instapundit has an intriguing link to you.

Congrats to SayUncle!

Da Rapmaster

Bobby D, of Thoughts From The Rapmaster, is a Memphis blogger and RTB member. He shares his "favorite comment on the latest Tennessee controversy." So very true!

Cool Blogs Found

I received some email from some new folks the past few days, who seem to have found Half-Bakered through this blog. It's the work of an Ole Miss student, Chris Lawrence. Go check out the blog and the rest of his website, LordSutch.com. It's all good and Chris has wide-ranging and fascinating interests.

I turned up more blogs from the emailers and other places, including the utterly amazing GeoURL a " reverse location-to-URL directory." Basically, you enter your ISP's URL and a distance range, and GeoURL will identify all the websites within that geographic range. (There are some limitations.) It's how I found some of the following:

Mike James' blog Tread lightly on the things of the earth is, to use his own description, a "weblog about computing, politics, and faith." Very good reading. Check out the photos, too; especially the one of Mike trying out "reclining computing." (For real!) I also have to note that I really admire his site design.

Another Oxford student, Loyd Goodbar, maintains The Black Robes, a personal blog, with interesting content including an observation on mall closings.

Loyd's site led me to the Southern blogs netring, twenty-six "Southern" websites of varying quality and interests.

Yet another student blog at here. Lots of pics of partying college students.

Gammatron is Paul Novarese's wide-ranging, but terse, weblog.

There's lots more. You can go to this list, which is centered on Memphis, Tennessee. Or go to GeoURL and enter your own latitude and longitude, and your ISP's URL to find ones close to you. Maybe some of you NashVillains or KnoxVegans can give it a shot and see what turns up. Some fascinating folks out there.

Man, the web is a daily wonder!

Advice For The Armed Forces

The following was posted to a Usenet newsgroup that I read. The poster said it was passed around during his last week of training.

ADVICE FOR THE ARMED FORCES

If the enemy is in range, so are you.

Incoming fire has the right of way.

Don't look conspicuous, it draws fire.

There is always a way.

The easy way is always mined.

Try to look unimportant, they may be low on ammo.

Professionals are predictable, it's the amateurs that are dangerous.

The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions:
1. When you're ready for them.
2. When you're not ready for them.

Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at.

If you can't remember, the Claymore is pointed at you.

The enemy diversion you have been ignoring will be the main attack.

A "sucking chest wound" is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.

If your attack is going well, you have probably walked into an ambush.

Never draw fire, it irritates everyone around you.

Anything you do can get you shot, including nothing.

Make it tough enough for the enemy to get in and you won't be able to get out.

Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.

If you are short of everything but the enemy, you are in a combat zone.

When you have secured an area, don't forget to tell the enemy.

And most importantly:

Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder.

Horrifying Developments

CNN has this story detailing how one Iraqi scientist attempted to gain sanctuary from UN inspectors and WAS HANDED BACK! The man yelled "Save me, save me" in Arabic and forced his way into a UN vehicle. The story has a picture of the man talking with an "unfazed" (CNN's word) UN inspector just before he was dragged by his hands and feet back into Iraqi custody.

I find this horrifying. What could these UN folks have been thinking? The Iraqi is a dead man, after he's been tortured thoroughly; his family faces possible death, too. His friends and coworkers also will be under the Iraqi gun. The UN people didn't even do a cursory interview to see who he was and what information he had in the notebook he carried with him. The CNN article completely avoids any discussion of his possible fate.

What possible justification can the UN folks have? Watch for some press spokesperson come forward to say that the inspectors weren't equipped to handle such unforeseeable circumstances, that they didn't have anyone who could process "non-procedural status changes" and they were respecting Iraqi sovreignty, or some such ass-coverage. If we even hear that much.

I have to say that maybe moral relativism plays a part. Too often, people claim that honor only because it's a high-sounding disguise to cover for their own cowardice and fear. Rather than engage and confront, it's easier to just let them be and hope for the best. That's been the European approach to Iraq and terrorism until the past few weeks. Now that they are starting to find dozens of terrorists hiding all over Europe, planning horrifying things, maybe, just maybe, they'll wake up and start saving lives, instead of throwing them away.

UPDATE: The Saturday evening news is now covering this incident and they are portraying it as a "security threat" (NBC's words) to the inspectors by deranged Iraqis! There is no identification of this man as brave or heroic nor any sympathy shown. And they are still refusing to acknowledge that any Iraqi scientist who talks in private with any UN inspector will likely be arrested by Iraqi security and treated as a possible traitor, and likely tortured for information. The Iraqi presumption has to be that any private conversation has to have been damaging.

My already low opinion of the major media continues to sink. This is making me sick, it really is.

Have A Good Weekend

Most of you won't be reading this until Monday anyway, but I'll be working hard this Super Bowl weekend and won't have time for blogging. I plan to catch up a few loose ends on Saturday, but will be at work all day Sunday. Blogging likely won't resume until Monday evening.

So no-one do anything noteworthy until then, OK?

I-69

The I-69 project is slated to connect Indiana and Mexico by passing through the Memphis area. The I-69 Info Project is a clearinghouse of information, discussion and opinion about that undertaking.

The Memphis leg page can be found here. Chris Lawrence also mentions some interesting contracts being let out, and other things, in his blog on the appropriately named "Roadgeekery" page.

I Knew It, I Knew It!

I wrote in a previous post that the Commercial Appeal's editors still seem to be waiting to start the push for an income tax. Even though reporters, columnists and editors have all repeated the idea that "the income tax is dead" -- though always for varying periods -- there still clung to their words the whiff of a desire to bring it back up.

Well, it's happened. In today's lead editorial, the CA finally pulls the knife from its sheath. The editorial starts out like the one I mentioned above, with the usual doom-colored glasses view of the State's budgetary landscape:

TENNESSEE'S new governor, Phil Bredesen, has yet to find a magic wand he can wave over the budget problems created or exacerbated by the state's failing tax structure.

Remember that phrase, "magic wand." And note that it's the tax structure that's failing the budget, even though revenues are rising, and not the budget which is abusing the revenue stream (a point Bill Hobbs also makes today).

Then, to truly belabor the point, they make a strained allusion to Sisyphus, who was fated to constantly roll the same boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down every time. They seem to want you to believe that trying to create a workable Tennessee budget within our current revenues is a hopeless task.

Largely because of inaccurate presumptions about how much the state could save by changing TennCare rules, this year's $9.4 billion budget has a projected $322 million deficit. Soaking up most of the state's reserves and continuing a hiring and travel freeze can narrow that gap.

Isn't this precious? Trying to whitewash the malfeasance of the Sundquist administration's handling of figures and projections involving budgets has become a sideline of the paper. There's a world of investigation hiding behind that "inaccurate presumptions," which the paper will never look into. By the way, the shortfall amounts to 3.4 percent -- hardly an apocalypse.

The rest of the editorial trots out the usual suspects and even throws in the Arlington Development Center fiasco. But the final paragraph is my vindication:

The long hill Tennesseans must climb alongside their new governor will only get steeper until modern, progressive ways to pay for state government are adopted, and the search for the magic wand is given up as hopeless.

Ah-HA! There it is. Though they try a bit of misdirection there with the tortured metaphor, it's clear that the CA does see a "magic wand."

We call it by a more mundane name: income tax.

Notice, too, that it's Tennesseans that the paper singles out here, and not the legislators. We already work hard at our lives and jobs to keep ourselves above water. It's profligate, corrupt, inept and duplicitous legislators (and a certain former Governor) who bear the true responsibility here.

But the fact remains that even if an income tax is instituted that is merely replacement for the present tax system, it will still fall short by (from the CA's own numbers) $500 million. More taxes, or higher ones, will be needed. And therein is the rub that the CA hopes most voters won't notice, especially if they don't say anything either.

Let's suppose that the income tax proposed last time was passed. It would have moved the tax burden from 100% of the population (plus all the visitors who pass through the State) who buy things in varying degrees, and transfer it to the 40% of Tennesseans who are labelled "wealthy." We would still be $500 million in arrears! And so, after only a single year, the income tax would have received its first upward adjustment. Since only 40% of the population would have been affected, legislators could count on a majority of voters being behind them in making the wealthy "pay their fair share." Fait accompli.

I knew it. Didn't I tell you?

Bredesen Continues To Surprise

I have to say that I'm still impressed with Governor Bredesen. He announced today that he's going to forego the governor's annual salary. Granted, that's largely symbolic in his case. After all, he's wealthy enough to illegally give his own campaign a couple of million dollars, so it's not like he's going the hair-shirt route.

But symbolism can be important and I think in this case it does send a good message, especially to the Legislature. He still seems committed to the path of "reduction before taxation" he pushed during his campaign.

His toughest challenges are yet to come. He has to prepare a budget, facing anything between $200 and $800 million in shortfall. TennCare is also drunkenly stumbling around the landscape. Teachers' unions are grasping with sharp-nailed fingers at the teacher-pay equalisation ruling. Reforming the Tennessee Dept. of Transportation will put him squarely in confrontation with some of the strongest and most bullying special interests in the State. He has a genuine minefield to navigate.

But Bredesen's first steps have so far largely been promising ones. I'm becoming cautiously non-pessimistic.

Online Taxation

Today's Washington Post has a story on the Streamlined Sales Tax Project. If you're a reader of Bill Hobbs, then you're already familiar with this effort to begin taxing online sales. Tennessee is a participant in this, but has not, to my knowledge, begun to implement any parts of their proposed legislation. Given the constant bleating about the need for more revenue, you can bet that we'll be seeing it soon.

Many businesses and legislators believe the Internet economy is sturdy enough, and sophisticated enough, now to support taxation. They also believe they're losing significant amounts of money to online sales.

But the story makes the point that the 2002 holiday season produced about $13 billion in online sales. The common mantra in retail is that this accounts for as much as one-fourth of annual sales. We'll be generous and say that annual online sales come to $60 billion (and if someone can provide a more accurate number, please do). That's in an economy that measures around $4 trillion dollars. It's a drop.

State governments drowning in their own extravagant promises and incompetent management will grasp at whatever straw they can. Personally, I'm waiting to see how they handle taxing eBay.

See The Similarities?

The London (Ontario) Free Press has this story about a cop dog-shooting incident up there, and the results of an investigation.

In this case, the cops were entering an apartment on a drug raid. The dog was inside and "barking and running toward them." Officers also attempted to subdue the dog with a CO2 fire extinguisher.

What's disturbing is the similarities to the Cookeville shooting. Cops in both cases were relying on bad information, in which miscommunication played a part, and lied in their reports on the shootings. Both found no instance of wrong-doing by the officer. There is stonewalling and defensiveness on the part of the police.

The deputy police chief "said he won't name the shooter lest he and his family are subjected to 'the wrath of extremist animal rights activists.'" Yeah, right. I'm sure that's it. All us "extremists" out there who are upset with needless animal death.

We need a good re-examination of the purpose and role of police officers in our communities. At present, they serve as the "thin blue line" separating criminals and citizens. In the present-day violence of America it tends to create an us vs. them mentality that's corrosive to police sympathy (both theirs and ours).

Perhaps we need to re-examine the things we ask police to do, like stopping crimes with no victim. For one, the drug war needs a serious rethinking. Perhaps prostitution and the criminalisation of homelessness, too. Asking the police to be the morality that we don't have within ourselves is part of the problem.

Crimes against property shouldn't always result in jail time. This is one area where community service, of the meaningful, reconstructive variety, can serve two needs. One, the criminal either repairs his damage or the community has neglect needs addressed (cleaning up vacant lots, buildings, etc.). Two, we free up jail space for those who commit crimes against people, to keep them segregated, which is the greater need. A byproduct of this is that police are dealing with fewer criminals "in the wild," and have more time for community needs.

Also, we should think about the Japanese model of having officers live in the areas they police. It fosters more of that community thing I've been talking about and encourages the citizens to identify with, and build sympathy for, their officers. I know Memphis tried something like this with a program to offer low-cost housing to officers. And that the program was abused by some officers. I personally know of two instances in my area alone.

It's clear that our police continue to grow disaffected from their communities and retreat into their "blue home." We need to stop this, or we'll continue to have more Cookevilles.

Grumble, Grumble, Grumble

Every time. Every danged time. Snow takes aim at Memphis, builds up some steam, gets a good look at the city and then swerves into the median, ploughs into the other lane and hits some poor unsuspecting other city.

Nashville and Knoxville get a good coating. We get something that looks like God brushed off his dandruff on the city. Heck, Tupelo Mississippi got more snow than we did! I'm really not happy with this, as we've missed a good snow nearly a half-dozen times now.

I want snow, dangummit.

It's All In Where You Look

The past few weeks, especially last weekend, the news has been filled with stories of anti-war or anti-America protests. But I'd wager that these protests aren't going to get that much play, even though the protesters face death if caught. Unlike their Western counterparts who cry "Fascist death squads!" when the police just show up. Yet another reason for the war.

Uh Oh

Next time some anti-globalist, environmentalist whacko tries to make you feel guilty for living in America, just ask them if they use a cellphone, microwave, alarm clock, stereo or VCR, or digital anything. Ask if they drive any vehicle made since the late Eighties. Ask if they use a computer.

When they say yes, slam them with this, from the Japan Times. Then see just how serious they are about their environmentalism.

So what are the environmental impacts of producing and using a 32-megabyte DRAM computer chip that weighs a mere 2 grams? The UNU team found that to make every one of the millions manufactured each year requires 32 kg of water, 1.6 kg of fossil fuels, 700 grams of elemental gases (mainly nitrogen), and 72 grams of chemicals (hundreds are used, including lethal arsine gas and corrosive hydrogen fluoride).

To make matters worse, Williams believes his findings are conservative. "We think the real numbers may be twice that," he said, adding that rapid advances in technology aggravate the problem.

Put up or shut up, d00d. (This story was originally found on Slashdot.)

Possumblog

Terry Oglesby is a father, architect, church-goer, blogger and director of the famous Axis of Weevil. He's also the author of Possumblog, viewing life from the marsupial angle in Alabama. A couple of weeks ago, he posted a brilliant satire of the "no war with Iraq" mentality. In it, he transposes that mindset to the American Civil War, with devastating results. Here's an excerpt:

Once again the world now waits with fear and trepidation regarding the threat of a US attack on the Confederacy. The President provides as justification for this impending attack the Southern states’ refusal to stay in the Union, the alleged Confederate threat to its neighbors and the Confederate government's mistreatment of its slaves.

The American people are being called upon to send their young sons to go and kill other young American sons. This war, like all wars, will be brutal and will leave many American families mourning the loss of their children.

We're not allowed to publicly question the Lincoln Administration for fear of being called unpatriotic. Aren't we entitled to really know why we're being urged to go to war? Aren't we entitled to be confident that the Administration is telling the truth?

Read the rest.