“Here’s to the New Year. May she be a damn sight better than the old one…”

–Col. Sherman T. Potter, M*A*S*H 4077th

Hey folks,

Today I had to pull a post off of MCB because of complaints from other readers about its outright attack on another blogger.

After reviewing the post, and consideration by the CEO of MCB, it was determined that the post was not in keeping with the guidelines set forth in the posting/commenting policy.

Music City Bloggers was created to be a community forum. That is, a place for you to come to find out what is of interest to the authors/contributors as they link to others in the community. A place for CIVIL discussion to take place, to get a glimpse into others’ viewpoints, to learn, and maybe even consider why someone who believes differently than you do feels the way they do.

You do not have to agree with everything you read here, but you do have to refrain from name calling, personal attacks, and threats. Period.

If we wanna go after what another blogger has posted on their blog, personal or not, we have our own blogs to do that with if that’s what turns us on, right?

Some things just aren’t appropriate on a community blog. Especially when its Owner has posted policies that state what will and will not be tolerated here.

There isn’t one contributor here whose writing I do not enjoy. There is SO much talent here. The fact that you take the time to write, read, and comment here is SO appreciated by those of us who work at making MCB a good community.

We just want everybody to follow a few, simple guidelines. That is all.

Onward!

Here’s some quick hits from bloggers around the state.

Jeff at The Pesky Fly plays Mr. Conspiracy in regards to the death of Belazir Bhutto:

So, if former Pakistani prime minster Benazir Bhutto was killed by a suicide bomber working for current PM Musharraf, as seems likely (considering the previous failed suicide bombing attempt on her life), can someone please explain how it is that a secular military leader is able to inspire someone to blow himself up?

I mean, there’s no promise of heaven in dying for the beloved general. No seventy doe-eyed virgins. No automatic entry into paradise for giving your life to advance the agenda of a secular politician. So what kind of person (or people) would give their lives for the sake of Beloved Leader?

Jack Lail, and recent news, will make Rachel H. happy.

When people need answers, most turn to the Internet, but don’t turn out the lights at the public library. Eighteen to 29-year-olds, known of Gen Y’ers, are the heaviest users of libraries for problem solving information, says a new Pew Internet and American Life study released Sunday.

I hadn’t really thought of the library as a youth haunt, but Gen Y respondents were startlingly far more likely to go to a library to solve a problem than the next group up, Gen Xers, those who are 31 to 41 years old.

Wanna win something from Home Ec 101?

So, to win the Shrek 3 DVD so you can sit your kids down for 2 glorious hassle-free, clean-up free hours of uninterrupted silence, or if you just want to see one of the two movies I saw in a theater this year, here’s what you have to do:

You have to go over there to figure out what to do.

And finally, Les Jones educates with a year-end list:

6. Don’t take parenting advice from Britney Spears.

7. Don’t take marriage advice from Pamela Anderson.

8. Don’t take real estate investment advice from these people, at least not any more.

S-Town Mike breaks down the best, and worst, of Nashville services in an extensive write up at Enclave.

This year’s rankings looks more like a Festivus ritual of “Airing of Grievances,” as there seemed to be less cream this year and more mediocrity and failure in Metro services. Sorry if you don’t find the following list uplifting and hopeful for our future, but it’s the nature of watchdogging to bear bad news (without lapsing into ideological hatred of everything that comes from government).

Whether you agree or you don’t, as a watchdog of local government no one can hold a candle to S-Town Mike.

Sharon Cobb is reporting this morning that Davidson County voters, all of you, have been the victim of theft.

Last week, when a laptop computer was stolen from the election commission, it contained the addresses and FULL social security numbers of ALL registered voters in Davidson County. That’s 337 thousand of us.

Make sure and call your credit card companies and put them on a potential fraud alert.

Southern Beale breaks the theft down at her place and offers this commentary:

Would someone please remind me why we thought it was a good idea to have election machines that do NOT provide a paper receipt? Something I can look at in my hand and say, “yup, that’s how I voted.” And then allow me to deposit that piece of paper in a secure box, so if the election is disputed, or too close to call, or someone alleges dead people are voting, or any one of a number of things happens, we can go back and check something other than an easily manipulated computer hard drive?

You know, a back-up? Do we no longer believe in back-up plans in this country?

My dad used to say he was “a belt-and-suspenders man.” He checked and double-checked everything. He didn’t do anything without having a back-up in case plan A didn’t work. We sometimes called him a pain in the ass but you know what? Important stuff didn’t fall through the cracks.

I want a belt-and-suspenders election. Something this important deserves a back-up. I simply do not get the arguments against this.

My thoughts: Why would such highly sensitive information, in this world of ongoing identity theft, not have been locked up? I realize the thieves probably don’t know what they have according to the reports, but still.

Your social security number, if you live in Davidson, was taken. And there’s no backup?

Amazing.

More from Eleanor at TennViews who wraps it up.

Combined with the documented flaws in the ESS systems used by Davidson County, I’d say your vote is now worth less than the $1.29 you pay for a cheeseburger you get at McDonald’s - and you actually get a receipt for that, unlike the [zero] you get when you vote on Election Day.

Frank over at Left of the Dial makes an observation…

First of all, what’s this crap about there being no “buzz” in Tennessee (this means YOU, Nashville) surrounding tonight’s game?

I could be missing it, but as I’ve been out and about and fielded emails and phone calls, I’m just not feeling like Nashville is all aflutter about the postseason possibilities.

That was the Tennesseean’s Paul Kuharsky in a blog post earlier this week.

Anyone buying into that? Or was tonight’s game simply buried by the hype surrounding last night’s quest for perfection by the New England Patriots?

I’ve seen several posts about the game lately. Granted, it’s not THE top story in the state nor should it. But there’s Music City Miracles, Sharon Cobb and…. and….

Shit. Maybe Kuharsky’s right.

Well, I’m excited!  Frank has listed EVERY blog and website dedicated to tonight’s game over at his place, so go check it out!

Old pals Say Uncle and Les Jones have picked up on a column I found intriguing. It is about the compassion that people have for each other. This being the Holiday Season of Peace, I found what Dave Lindorff wrote in the Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel quite interesting.

Mr. Lindorff wants Red Staters to die.

Because they have blasphemed the Sun God Algoracle. Not even the great philosopher Rodney King can help this hater.  He doesn’t want to get along. He wants the Red State scum to die, or at the least suffer greatly. 

Mr. Lindorff writes, “Say what you will about the looming catastrophe facing the world as the pace of global heating and polar melting accelerates. There is a silver lining. The future political map of America is likely to look a lot different, with much of the so-called “red” state region either gone or depopulated.”

But surely we will want to give aid to those drowning and starving wretches. Right?

Not exactly. Mr. Lindorff explains, “The important thing is that we, on the higher ground both actually and figuratively, need to remember that, when they begin their historic migration from their doomed regions, we not give them the keys to the city. They certainly should be offered assistance in their time of need, but we need to keep a firm grip on our political systems, making sure that these guilty throngs who allowed the world to go to hell are gerrymandered into political impotence in their new homes.”

I hate to tell Mr. Lindorff that the cities he is referring to, the high ground as it were, will be under water if his apocalyptic fantasy were to come true.

It is good to see Sean Braisted back in his own saddle again, even though his time away hasn’t affected how screwed up his thinking is on things (just kidding).  But seriously, Sean is challenging Bob Krumm for heralding a policy “paper” by Fred Thompson on Energy policy. Sean asserts that the policy position in question is unremarkable (and suspiciously similar to Democratic positions).

Now, Krumm tends to think that Democrats have ignored the foreign policy implications of our energy plan…apparently, he was sleeping through the 2006 Senate election when Harold Ford Jr. expressed his love for the Soy Beans to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. It was also a Democratic Governor in Montana who expressed interest in the Federal Government investing in coal liquefication to take advantage of our own natural resources. In fact, Democrats have been saying for quite sometime that we should reduce our dependence on foreign oil for the sake of our national interest; the difference being, they can walk and chew gum at the same time, therefore they also speak about the need to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels altogether…one of the big reasons being global climate change.

No doubt there is some overlap between Conservative and Liberal (or Republican and Democratic) proposals re. “energy security,” but tone and motivation (presuppositions) and resolve matter a whole lot and distinguish the various plans a whole lot. I’d say the “battle” surrounding this issue hinges more on those factors than on particular policies. And, though I think that there is much area for bipartisan agreement on this issue, surely Sean sees the irony of citing (a) a losing, (b) maverick Democratic candidate (c) for U.S. Senate in a (d) small, (e) southern state (or a maverick governor from a small western state) as examples of “what Democrats believe on the issue.”

John is enjoying a little holiday spirits, while catching up on some movie watching. He has offered his opinion on one of those movies, “The Pursuit of Happyness“.

Great film, but what’s bugging me is I’m seem to remember some mumblings about it being a good pro-conservative-values film.

Perhaps John is referring to posts like this one from Mark Rose last May.

After asking us if we are intercoursing kidding him, he goes on to say.

OK, so an extraordinary person graced with extraordinary intelligence and extraordinary perseverance can beat the odds in a game extraordinarily stacked against him — and this somehow justifies the game, and its odds?Please.

Well John, I appreciate your optimism and faith in human beings, but let me explain to you why this movie is loved by conservatives. Read the rest of this entry »

The Recovering Baptist wonders about why the holiday must bring family together:

Why do people who really don’t particularly like each other force themselves to have together time for the holidays, just because they share DNA? Is it really that important? Really? Blood relation? Why are you ruining a perfectly lovely time of year because of some bizarrely held feelings of obligation to people with whom you just really don’t connect at all? And do you ever look at your blood relations and think, “how in the hell did I come from this?” Not necessarily in a holier-than-thou way. Just in a way that comments upon how utterly and incredibly weird and unlikely it is that you have not one single thing in common, yet your background is so similar.

Family relationships are tough. I get that. Most of the family I have in this area and the family that we’ve just celebrated Christmas with is the family that I married into. I love them very much. They mean the world to me but some of the dynamics that exist within the family sometimes cause more stress than joy. Which is why I’m here today, at home, reading blogs.

A look into the life of a Grascal wife and her Mista:

The alarm clock went off this morning. It was on WSM. Bill Cody said something about “An Evening With The Grascals and Eddie Stubbs.” First I’d heard about a romantic evening between them and Senor Stubbs.

A little later, they put this guy on the air and asked him trivia questions. This ol’ boy was on his way to work and he answered them all correctly and his prize? An Evening With The Grascals. Heh. That made me laugh very loudly at such an early hour. “Listen to that”, I said to Sleeping Beauty Mr. Smiff. “That guy’s prize is he gets to come see you. What a lucky feller.” Har har.

This post also serves to point out the contest you can enter to that you too can have an “intimate evening” with The Grascals and Eddie Stubbs. Go here for details.

Last year around this time I made some predictions for 2007. I saved the file and ran across it last week. Hoo boy…some of them were real stinkers. Anyway, here they are as we reach the end of 2007. I will indicate my level of shame as to each prediction in boldface:

1. There will be a backlash against Barack Obama as people start wondering what, exactly, is supposed to make him so special, other than the fact that some media folks think so. By the end of 2007, he will be seen as, at best, a credible vice-presidential candidate.

Confidence Level = 90%

High level of shame. He’s done better that I would have thought, taking special advantage of his outsider position and the fact that he’s a very likable guy. Kudos to him. But I still don’t think he’s ultimately going anywhere.

2. John Wilder will remain the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate.

CL = 75%

Whoops! Move along please.

3. If John Wilder is somehow deposed, he will die by the end of 2007. Morbid I know, and I’m sorry about that, but being Lt. Gov. is pretty much his whole life anymore, after the death of his beloved wife a few years ago. Without it, well, it’s kind of like what often happens to some older people older person when his or her spouse dies (though not, of course, in his case): they just sort of give up.

CL = 80%

Whoops again! The old dog’s a thoroughbred.

4. The national Republican Party will begin undergoing a severe split that will continue into 2008, with the eventual creation of an ad hoc third party presidental ticket led by either 1) a McCain/Guiliani-style centrist or 2) a religious/Christian/social conservative, depending on which wing wrests the mantle of the Republican Party away from the other in 2008. If it happens to be number 2, the big issue upon which that ticket will focus will not be any of the social issues, but, rather, immigration restriction.

CL = 65%

I think I’m at least in the ballpark on this one. Remains to be seen.

5. Democrats will bitch and moan at each other like they always do but will begin to coalesce around Hillary Clinton as their lead-dog candidate going into 2008. Her biggest competition: Bill Richardson of New Mexico.

CL = 85% for the Clinton thing. 65% for Richardson.

Happy with the Hillary prediction. Wrong on Richardson, though. Low-to-moderate level of shame.

6. Bill Clinton will suffer a major heart attack or other ailment in the Fall which will render him conveniently bedridden for at least six to eight months.

CL = Just a hunch really. But don’t be surprised if it happens. Seriously.

It was a long shot, but still just plain wrong. Honestly, though, it wouldn’t have been a bad idea.

7. The Democratic Congress will pass no major legislative packages of its own. They will be biding their time until they can one of their own in the White House.

CL = 75%

Spot on, methinks.

8. By the end of the year, U.S. troops in Iraq will be amassed in two places: the vast majority will be in Kurdistan with a smaller group left in Baghdad, post-war Berlin style. This will be effectively the same as getting out of Iraq without actually doing it.

CL = 70%

Nope. Surge-o-rama!

9. Comprehensive (as in, not restrictionist) immigration “reform” will pass the Congress as part of a deal whereby the White House appoints a conservative judge to the United States Supreme Court.

CL = 40% on a vacancy even opening; 80% if it does

No vacancy, so I don’t feel too bad.

10. Conservatives and/or Republicans will begin calling for a Microsoft-style antitrust investigation of Google.

CL = 60%

Nope. Low level of shame, however. There continues to be some anti-Google sentiment on the right. Some relationship to the elitist hipster thing, I suspect.

11. John Edwards will be a political non-entity by the end of the year.

CL = 50%

I guess we’ll find out for sure next week, but isn’t he pretty close to this? I’ll take it as a tentative win.

12. The Philadelphia Phillies will be World Series champions.

CL = 40% (wishful thinking really)

Nope. They did get into the playoffs, though, which I’ll take.

13. The Tennessee Titans will win the AFC South and lose in the AFC Champoinship game.

CL = 50%

Again, I’ll take the playoffs.

14. The Nashville Predators will lose in the Western Conference Finals.

CL = 40%

Wrong-o.

15. David Briley will be the next Mayor of Nashville.

CL = 30%

I would submit that, while wrong, this is not as far wrong as it may look based only on the final election results. When I made this prediction, Karl Dean had zero name recognition and was more or less a non-entity. he eventually won, of course, and, on the political spectrum, the closest person to him was David Briley. So, just moderate shame.

16. A prominent former world leader will be assassinated in a Muslim nation toward the end of the year.

CL: 25%

OK. I didn’t really predict this. I’m just trying to up my percentages. Give me a break, will ya?

A few weeks back, Glen Dean made a fuss about feeling like an outsider at Starbucks. Here’s a sampling:

Upon entering, my stereotype was quickly verified. Right there on a piece of living room furniture was “pony-tail guy” reading a book. At one table were these two thin, neat looking, young men. They looked like they were really close friends, really close. A few of the people in there actually had textbooks. Some were wearing those really small eyeglasses, the kind Brittney Gilbert, wears. Some people were reading and some were having discussions, but I don’t think any of them were talking about who they were going to vote for in the Republican Primary.

His point, I guess, was that Starbucks caters only to left-wing intellectual hippie-types. This, of course, is ridiculous, for two reasons:

1. You don’t become a corporate powerhouse by catering to such a small segment of the population and

2. Authentic left-wing intellectual hippie-types wouldn’t be caught dead in a Starbucks.

Anyway, I’m here to help. If Glen would feel like to feel a little more comfortable, I recommend he take his wife to the Starbucks on Royal Oaks Boulevard in Franklin. This morning, on the “Barista of the Day,” chalkboard, the Barista of the Day listed the “Bible” as her “Favorite Book.” Yep, the Bible. How did she slip that past her secular corporate masters?!

Bonus: Voice of the Titans Mike Keith was behind me in line. He drinks half-caf, for the record.

Sarah Moore posts about the coarseness of some teens in her neighborhood here. The post was fairly free of hand-wringing, and basically inspired assent, but the comment from lcreekmo got me to thinking. Lcreekmo wrote:

I know what you mean, but I think you should not be so alarmed. These days, I have a similar reaction when I hear kids talking like that, but I have to remind myself that it’s developmentally appropriate for teenagers to do things designed to shock. Now with you, it wasn’t language. But there was something.Think about this: In the 50s and 60s, it would be shocking for adults to see kids hanging around in blue jeans. How inappropriate! How coarse! How common! Today we have the sagging pants and the exposed navels. At least 50% of the value of such things must be in the way they figuratively flip off the older generation.

Myself, I went through a ridiculous phase in 7th grade where I found it necessary to say “the s word,” as you put it, repeatedly. About anything. Preferably with a disgusted tone, as if I could not believe the situation I found myself in. In college, I worked on the newspaper with a bunch of guys. In the newsroom, you stand out if you don’t curse.

With the exception of those two times in my life, I really haven’t ever cursed much, and in fact now, I rarely curse at all. The words I used then were situational….and probably for most kids, that’s all it is. The words may be stronger today than when we were kids — I’m 36 — but heck, they have to be for us to be shocked. And that’s probably what it’s about.

I would say, you’ll be disappointing the kids if you DON’T act shocked, so go right ahead!!

Reading that comment I thought, “Now that’s someone who is comfortable in their skin, not uptight, hip.” But then I started to line it up against my own experience with children (and with myself) and I had to disagree.

“Developmentally predictable” perhaps, but not “developmentally appropriate,” in my humble opinion.

I don’t believe–and have never observed, that character is learned “the hard way” or through experience. Unlike in Hollywood, one of the hoods in the Moore neighborhood isn’t likely to have a change of heart after watching A Christmas Carol. So, it will take a decision by said hoods to turn from said behavior . . . why unnecessarily endure any length of time or entertain any purported “phases” for them to start making those choices? That’s the beauty of discipline . . . when correctly applied it expedites the process of maturing (a process that hardly ever happens on its own, frankly).

I’m sure that there will be significant difference of opinion on this point. If you have time on this busy day to opine a bit (and share it), please do.

From my fellow Times-Gazette blogger Bo Melson:

In May, 1992, my kidneys had failed and I received a kidney transplant, the kidney coming from someone who had died the previous night. All I know to this date is that the kidney came from a 34-year-old male, a very caring person who had signed an organ donor card.

[snip]

There will be an empty place at a table somewhere tomorrow. I hope that family will remember and dwell on the good times they had on Christmas when he was with them.

Go read the whole thing. And if you haven’t already signed your organ donor card, now — while you have your family members nearby, so you can tell them your decision — would be a good time.

It’s Christmas Eve, when we bloggers reach out to our adversaries and write nice, kind holiday posts. Average guy Stacey Campfield has posted his. If you are a Democrat, you will be quite impressed with Campfield’s gender neutral, environmentally conscious, multicultural, and all around politically correct holiday greeting. Check it out. Heh!

As of 9:15am CST, Santa was located in Zhanamaydan, Pavlodar, Kazakhstan. He has already completed deliveries throughout Japan, China, and much of the Asian region of Russia!

In addition to the info *John Carney posted below, you can also track Santa’s progress through this handy download at Google Earth. Kids will love it…and being a lover of geography, I’m really into it, too!

*John and I are on the same wavelength this morning, as we posted about this almost at the very same time!

I posted about this at my place the other day, and it’s not Nashville-related in the slightest — but it’s Christmas, and I’m stuck here at the office, and I’m going to post it anyway. So sue me.

You really need to stop by the NORAD Santa web site this evening, even if you don’t have young kids. They will be tracking you-know-who’s progress on his annual flight, and there are tons of games and activities besides. (You need to have Google Earth installed to use the tracking feature this year.)

Many years ago, a department store in Colorado set up a phone number for children to talk to Santa. But the local newspaper had a typo when it published the number, and instead callers ended up with NORAD, the North American missle defense system. The NORAD guys, in the holiday spirit, played along and told the kids about how they were tracking Santa’s progress. That started a holiday tradition, which moved onto the web (with the help of various corporate sponsors) some years back.

This year’s site is very nicely done, I think. Poke around, and you can hear audio files of Viriginia’s famous letter about the existence of Santa Claus, and the newspaper editor’s response.

From Malia and family

CREDITS: Sophie From Cup Of Joe Powell’s House.

Christmas Lights in Downtown Nashville By Wage.

And what does John Carney want for Christmas?

Mabel The Elf

From January, but still a good one from CeeElCee

And then what some of this Christmas stuff is all about. We love Pea.

NFL flex scheduling moves Titans vs Colts game next Sunday to the Sunday Night NBC game.

This will ensure the final AFC playoff spot won’t be decided until next Sunday evening.  The Titans win and they’re in on the basis of their win today and Cleveland losing.

The Colts have wrapped up everything that can for the post-season.  The question is–will they rest their starters?  Or will they play them enough to knock out the Titans, who are the other team that isn’t from New England to play them tough the past few seasons?

It’s Festivus. Let’s talk politics. Which makes no sense whatsoever but is just what came to mind.

I digress.

Jack Lail appears to be excited about the new possibilities of this upcoming year’s presidential campaign. The format he’s talking about is at Think MTV. He talks about a new project funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

MTV’s citizen journalism initiative is funded with a a $700,000 Knight News Challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The Knight News Challenge is spending $5 million a year over five years to fund innovative community news experiments.

I believe we will see the most innovative campaign coverage ever in this presidential cycle. We’ve already seen video questions from non-journalists in debates in the CNN/YouTube debates and various truth checkers, map mashups, Twittering candidates and other cool election tools. 2008 will definitely be the year of the Internet Election, but it will also herald the arrival of cell phone coverage.

This project’s focus on citizen journalists delivering video dispatches for cell phones is doubly intriguing.

Of course, this upcoming year’s election will have added digital tools to garner votes. Will it work?

I honestly believe it will to a degree.

How much remains unseen.

Sean Braisted links to this very interesting Maureen Dowd column.

Sean writes:

While many people support Hillary Clinton because of Bill, it will be interesting to see if his inflated ego will diminish the former President in the eyes of supporters, and whether or not that will turn people away from Hillary.

That is definitely something to consider. I have always admired Bill’s political skills. But lately, he seems to be off his game. Although I still think he is more of a plus than a minus for Hillary, he just doesn’t seem to be as smooth as he once was. Do you agree?

“We’re not electing a theologian-in-chief, but a commander-in-chief.”- Richard Land

Sarah Moore admits to initially being sucked into the Huckabee hype. Thankfully though, she has come to her senses and taken a second look.

The Huckster’s message seems to be “I am a Christian, a Baptist minister, so vote for me.” Sarah, like most of us horrible evangelicals, doesn’t buy into that nonsense.

I am not going to vote for a candidate because he is a Christian, and I’m not going to exclude a person who professes no faith at all. Same goes for the labels of black, white, man, woman, gay, straight, young, old, etc. I agree with Rush … playing identity politics is no way to determine the best person for the job.

Amen to that! The very idea that Huckabee would use religion to manipulate Republicans to support his liberalism is appalling. As for that Christmas ad, it’s not very Christian to lie Brother Huckster.

If you are a Republican and thinking about voting for Mike Huckabee, ask yourself this question, “Was Jimmy Carter a good president?”

More from Ned Williams, who doesn’t seem to question the Dick Morris article stating that Huckabee really is a fiscal conservative.