Most folks I know have a handle on these here innertubes but will quickly tell you who they are if you ask politely.

But if they don’t, they don’t and that’s cool too.

I have some experience with being outted. I’ve been outted against my will a few years ago, when someone figured out who I was and posted my name and address and work information in the comments here and all over the place.  I outted myself in a news story that appeared on the front page of The Tennessean, which I thought was going to be pretty definative, but then a couple of months after that, someone got mad at me and made noises like wouldn’t it be uncomfortable for me if folks knew who I really was, and I emailed them back and pointed out the article and that was the end of that.

Aunt B. talks about the outing of bloggers.

How do you feel about it all? I think it’s a Golden Rule thing. If you wanted to be outed, cool.If not, it’s not up to someone else to do it.

That’s just me.

“A marriage is not about purchasing sole access to a cooter.”

–Aunt B.

Now, please go see why she has imparted this pearl of wisdom upon us. It is an excellent post.

~Mark Twain

I got an e-mail about the other day from the PR person for a film that has been making the rounds of public television stations. Here are the details:

The POWER of FORGIVENESS will be shown on Nashville’s WNPT-8 on Friday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m. The film is released nationally on Public Television through American Public Television (APT) and is a production of Journey Films. Best Documentary 2007, Sun Valley Film Festival

The one-hour film is a collection of seven short stories showing the limits, difficulties, healing qualities and unforeseen effects an act of forgiveness can have in people’s lives. It includes stories on The Amish, Ground Zero, Northern Ireland, and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, plus reflections from renowned Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, and best-selling authors Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul) and Marianne Williamson (The Gift of Change).

Other highlights:
- A celebrated forgiveness expert has his theories put to the test after his mother’s brutal slaying
- Latest clinical research shows a link between forgiveness and lower blood pressure, other health benefits
- Equally revealing stories of people who cannot forgive or find relief from anger, grief and resentment

I’ve included more information from the e-mail after the jump…
Read the rest of this entry »

As usual, Rachel and Aunt B bring to our attention something so important — something that could very well affect me, you, or a close loved one should such a tragic situation like this arise. That is, in some states if you or a loved one is raped, not only do you have to go through the further humiliation of a “rape exam,” but the victim has to pay for the forensics testing as well!

The Vol Abroad notes that (finally) in Tennessee, legislation was passed wherein the cost will be funded by the Victim’s Compensation Fund for sexual assault victims; however, that will most likely be a reimbursement rather than out and out payment. Thus, the victim has to pay for it and then go through a bunch of red tape to be reimbursed.

I’m sorry, but what a bunch of bullshit.

I really appreciate and agree with what Mack had to say on this topic today:

Isn’t the sole purpose of the kit to gather evidence? As such, it seems like an expense that should be covered by the police, or the State.

I ‘m wondering if I show up at an ER claiming to have been shot, if I would be charged for collecting and storing the bullet fragments as evidence? Or, what if the police want to make sure I didn’t shoot myself, and gave me a GSPR test? (Gun shot powder residue) Should I have to pay for that? What if I decide not to press charges? Is it OK to charge me for the costs incurred investigating the crime?

I’m just sitting wondering what kind of message this sends to women. Are we saying that they, as victims of rape, are somewhat, kinda sorta, in a way complicit? I think it does.

Kat Coble and AuntB and Elizabeth at “Pith in the Wind” and Gavin (and others I’m sure–please let me know in the comments) are posting about the recent Nashville Scene report that the Southern Baptist Convention (”SBC”) seems to be punting rather than deal with the issue of sex abusers within the SBC.

This is a tough subject. I have ZERO sympathy for sex abusers. And as far as criminal justice is concerned, you likely haven’t seen a less sympathetic person than me. (Some of you are nodding your heads). On the other hand, I can sympathize with the SBC in this context. The SBC isn’t like the United Methodist Church or the Catholic church (or any other large denomination, frankly) so comparing what other denominations can do or have doesn’t seem fair. The reality is that the SBC could be the biggest, most powerful loosely affiliated organization in the history of the world. The organization represents a subtle balance between orthodoxy and autonomy, and I’m not sure where maintaining a database and investigating complaints and refereeing disputes and expecting compliance squares with autonomy. Indeed, the Scene article is entitled “What Would Jesus Say?” but this really isn’t an issue of what the SBC should say, it is about what they will do, and maintain, and enforce. As a lawyer, I also think the SBC’s reticence could fairly be about how implementing proposals advocated by the SBC’s detractors could force the SBC to assume liability without a means to manage their liability, given the way that the SBC is “organized.”

Unlike the federalist-circumventing tactic of our nation’s speed limit laws or DUI laws which are imposed through the carrot and stick of DOT money; unlike the disciplinary or leveraging tool of denominational ownership of church property, there doesn’t seem to be a way to impose something from the top down in the SBC, given the nature of their organization and given the proclivities of so many of the leaders in the member churches.

I won’t pretend that I do not have a reflex to believe the best about the SBC–the things that make them so controversial in the blog universe (which tilts left) endear it to me. And I won’t pretend that I am rather disinclined to believe the best about groups Kat Coble termed “tortseekers.” That being said, I will admit that this situation gives me pause. While infidelity or taking advantage of one’s position as a pastor may be issues properly resolved within a church body (or perhaps a denomination, which doesn’t include the SBC), I don’t believe that crimes are “issues” or “conflicts” that should be kept quiet or in-house. Hopefully churches, especially SBC churches that have no other available filter, are doing criminal background checks on prospective hires.

For a whole host of reasons, the SBC is on the Scene’s naughty list. And holding up a couple of pastors (or former pastors) who turned out to be abusers and who happen to have been seen with current leaders within the SBC at one time or another is not the same as demonstrating that the SBC is shuffling sex abusers around the org like priests or public school PE teachers. For the time being, I think I’ll direct my outrage at the sexual perpetrators.

Update: Glen Dean describes why he would label the Nashville Scene story is a hit piece.

It’s everywhere. Mack posted about the hate directed towards Hillary Clinton but it’s not just her. There’s the refrain that keeps popping up about Obama being “one of those people we’re fighting” and then there’s the hatred from conservatives towards McCain and of the less religious towards Huckabee. On the Today show, Pat Buchanan said that McCain “would make Cheney look like Gandhi.” That’s a pretty extreme visual. Ann Coulter has decided to support Clinton if McCain wins. Way back when, one of Barry Goldwater’s quotes was that “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.” This sentiment seems to have been reworked into “Extremism is the only defense.”

Have we come to the point that how we feel we must approach our lives is to build our lives and our beliefs around a small set of issues that we can never yield on, while pouring hate on all those who oppose us? When did disagreement degenerate into hatred?

David at The View From Below explains a case of continuing injustice…

The next time you get caught in some relatively minor bureaucratic nightmare, consider the case of Paul House. House is very literally rotting away on Tennessee’s Death Row for a crime he didn’t commit. House was convicted of the 1985 rape and murder of Carolyn Muncey. House was sentenced to death because he was convicted of both rape and murder. He was convicted of rape because forensic testing revealed that semen found on Muncey’s clothing was consistent with House’s blood type. He was convicted of murder because blood stains found on a pair of House’s pants was Muncey’s blood.

Sounds all neat and tidy, right?

Wrong.

I hope you will go over and read David’s excellent post about this case.

Here we go:

You’d better sit down for this one.

It turns out that Enzyte, the natural male enhancement formula, doesn’t work.

I know. You’ve seen the ads on television with that glowing, confident actor surrounded by glowing, adoring women and thought to yourself that you should place an order. Well, according to testimony in an Ohio court, you’d better hold on to your cash.

Enzyte is odd, but it’s those Viva Viagra commercials that really creep me out.

Wait, they all give me a case of the wiggums. My bad.

Progressive Nashville has the story.

Could it be that identity fraud is being initiated by large companies?

I’m starting to think so, especially after reading of the nightmare scenario from The Editor, aptly titled “Why Sprint Sucks”. The Editor has endured totally unacceptable treatment at the hands of Sprint. 4 times now, the company has contacted her seeking large amounts of cash for accounts she did not start. The Editor has NEVER had a Sprint account. And they demand she prove she is a victim, despite the fact the company has victimized her 4 freakin’ times.

“I contact Sprint and finally get through to a person (hitting 0 a lot helps), and give them the account number. They tell me the account was open in December 2005 from an LA phone number and address. They tell me three lines were open under this account!!! The phone number given was my old phone number. They tell me one of the addresses associated with the account is my old address and there is another address that I have never lived at. I know no one that lives at this address. It is one of the addresses that showed up on my credit report. I tell them that this is the 4th time someone has fraudulently opened or tried to open an account in my name with Sprint. That prior to 2005 I had expressly asked that no account should EVER be opened in my name, and yet, here we were with an account in my name. Last time Sprint actually contacted me to ask. So what gives? I gave them specific instructions as to what questions MUST be answered in order for an account to be open.”

—

“I receive the Fraud Packet from Sprint. The fraud packet is set up under the assumption that you, the victim, must prove your innocence. It asks more from me than it did of the criminal who stole my identity.”

Her post also includes nearly a dozen links to other reports on Sprint’s bad, bad policies.

So imagine hundreds and hundreds of people intentionally set up with false accounts, unable or too fatalistic to fight back. Who benefits most?

I am completely and utterly appalled by what I read over at Katie Allison Granju’s place this morning:

Denver mothers who are enrolled in high school are asking for a modest four weeks of approved maternity leave from classes, and all hell is breaking loose over their request. The topic has bloggers and pundits buzzing, with most folks nastily wagging their fingers at the idea that “teen mothers” should get a few weeks to rest their bodies and bond with their babies after giving birth. After all, the reasoning goes, if we “reward” teenage moms with four weeks of no homework, it will surely encourage more 16 year old girls to get knocked up.

Are they NUTS?

No, they are cruel. Evidently, they want to punish those girls much as they possibly can for their mistakes.  God forbid you give them an “excused absence” for giving birth!

Katie wrote a powerful essay entitled “In Defense of the Pregnant Prom Queen” recently, and it ties in to this most recent story, as well.  Read her entire post, as well as the essay here.

So what has happened to genuine Truth? Genuine Truth has been stacked somewhere on the junk heap of absolute terms once capitalized by people like the Poets, Philosophers, and Presidents. Love, Faith, Reason, all these definitive, absolute terms have now been relativized out of existence.

Heather is musing over at the monkeebook about some guidelines she calls the Homewreckers’ Handbook.

An excerpt:

Whenever something starts to get you irritated with your most recent baby daddy’s ex-wife, remember that he hasn’t paid her a damn dime in months and that she has brought over food for you and your kids when you didn’t have money for any…..all of this after you ****ED HER HUSBAND.

Kevin Barbieux explains why so many of Nashville’s Homeless hate the Rescue Mission.

At the rescue mission, people are treated rather poorly, and this poor treatment negatively effects homeless people’s emotional state. Besides that, the rescue mission is an uncomfortable place to be. The only advantage to staying at the mission is that they keep the heater on so that it is somewhat warmer than outside.

But, the mission is constantly overcrowded during the winter months. And any crowded environment is a stressful environment. At to that, that many of the homeless have mental illness issues and drug abuse issues, meaning that they are less able to handle stressful environments. Then, the mission puts all of its overflow in the day room, where the homeless are not allowed to lay down while they sleep, and the bright lights are kept on all night long. Given all this, many of the homeless become irritable. Arguments and fights are common through out the night. And often it is the staff and “program men” who are initiating the arguments, since they are not really trained properly on crowd management.

Identify a problem, devise a solution, implement the solution, problem solved. That’s they way you normally think of it going. But if you think it’s always smooth sailing, you’d be wrong. Sometimes when someone tries to accomplish a goal, the very tactics he employs to accomplish it work against him.

Thus it was with RIAA and a buddy of mine whose frustration while trying to listen to music and watch a DVD that he bought and paid for led him to a conclusion that I’m pretty sure all parties involved were not planning for.

Says Eric, in ‘Thanks to the RIAA I just bought my last CD!’

I’ll admit it… I’ve spent far too much money on music over the past few years. I’ve probably spent well over $1,000 on CD’s during the past ten years, and more than $300 on iTunes (that was back when I was still using Microsoft Windows… now I’m on ubuntu and I don’t use ITunes). I love music, and I love to constantly have a lot of it readily available.

But recently I’ve been met with insult after insult when spending my hard earned money on music and DVD’s. Normally I’m able to ignore the record label lawsuit war on its own community, but now I find myself starting to feel the heat. And I haven’t even done anything wrong!!!

Click through and find out the excruciating details on what happened. For the record, Eric is from Chicago, not Nashville. But his beef is with the record labels and their policies. Where better to post this than here in Music City? Perhaps some of the movers and shakers over on the Row would like to respond.

Blue

I’ve been away from blogs for the better part of a month. This means that I haven’t gotten to talk about penises as often as I would like, so imagine my thrill to see that W has a circumcision post erected just in time for my return!

veryone both in real life and on the net have a story about some distant family member who had to be circumcised later in life due to some obscure penile problem. So the argument that follows is of course you should have it done when they’re an infant so it won’t hurt as much. Folks, I call bunk. An infant feels too. I’ve read the research. The only difference between having it done as an infant versus an older child or adult is that infants don’t remember it. Having it done when you’re older actually seems a lot better. Because when you’re older a new surgical scar won’t be residing in a diaper right next to where bodily wastes collect.

He’s preparing for the imminent arrival of a son, and needs his questions answered in short order. As far as circumcision posts go–and I’ve read plenty–his recent one is very good at covering all the bases.

(Not sure if I can say “dammit” on this blog…)

Short & Fat is talking about one of my favourite subjects–copyright.

Specifically:

Over at Gizmodo, they’re discussing the illegality of ripping your own CDs for use on your iPod or (in my case, SanDisk MP3 player).

I personally think I’m morally correct to rip music I have paid for.

I personally agree. I gather, however, that there is a difference of opinion on the matter.

I’m not a big fan of marketing and elementary school tie-ins. That’s why this post from Lesley made me sit up and take notice.

When I was in school, I remember that some of my friends got rewarded with cash for good grades. When I asked my mom why I wasn’t getting rewarded for my good grades, she just said that my reward was being smarter than other kids. I wasn’t happy, but I continued to get good grades. And I applaud her decision not to bribe me to do what I was supposed to do anyway.

But what happens when your children are presented with “rewards” and it’s beyond your control? In Seminole county, Florida, the school system has allowed McDonald’s to market themselves as rewards to elementary schoolchildren

What do you think? Is it a good idea for schools to give out coupons for Happy Meals as prizes?

Remember the story a few weeks ago about wounded Iraq War veterans being asked to repay their enlistment bonuses? Well, it turns out there really isn’t a story there.

Lawmakers condemned the practice, and more than 250 signed on to sponsor legislation designed to right the wrong. They promised to rein in the heartless government bureaucrats who dared to implement a policy that could snatch soldiers’ money away like this.

Problem is, there doesn’t appear to be much of a problem.

Only a handful of cases have been found in which a wounded soldier was asked to repay a bonus, and those turned out to be clerical mistakes.

We here at MCB really try to not link to our personal blogs that often because we want this to be about the larger community, not just those of us on the editorial board.

But I could not let this post at Rachel’s go by without comment.

Read the rest of this entry »

I think the Sunshine law has a stupid name. It makes it sound like it’s a grant to give free orange juice to Headstart students or something. I’ve never liked the phrase “sunshine laws”, even though it’s been around for awhile now. It’s one of those cutesy legal phrases like “sticky wicket” and “blue laws” that have just stuck.

The term “Sunshine Laws” applies to any law which forces the government to operate in a fully-open manner. Or “out in the sunshine” as it were.

Our Sunshine Law in Tennessee has been around for about 30 years. (Sunshine Laws were quite the rage after Watergate. All of a sudden everyone wanted to know what sausage was being made down at city hall.) And it’s in trouble.

Redmon believes Jones and others will be successful in watering down the law. That could very well be true, because it appears Jones and others are in Nashville to serve their interests, not the public’s.

You probably wonder why you should care. After all, government meetings are those borefests on Metro Channel 3 where a bunch of cranky people who remind you of your middle school assistant principal gather round and talk about whether or not they’re going to vote on bills about taxicabs and the hours the library stays open. Why should you care if they keep airing those meetings on channel 3, keep allowing “the public” into those meetings and keep making the records of those meetings public?

Because it’s your government. They are your employees. You hired them when you voted for them. Now imagine that you run a business. Would you allow your employees to decide that they were going to work not at your office but in one of their garages, and they were going to sell the widgets you hired them to make without even letting you inspect them first? You probably wouldn’t–if you wanted to stay in business, that is.

Sunshine Laws make sure that our employees work for us, that we can inspect their work and not have them abuse our trust.

Rob Robinson is driving the Thinktrain to Recycleville.

Is recycling a ton of consumer waste something that an individual family should brag about?

The Curby program has proved wildly popular with some Nashville residents who brag of having up to three of the green, 96-gallon carts to fill with paper, aluminum and other recyclables for monthly pickup …

In Nashville, Curby came to homes automatically, and the convenience has made it a recycling method some love. “We have three containers and they’re usually full,” said Paul Brown, a retired minister in the Green Hills area. “I think the program ought to be used, if it can be.”

I am a frequent recycler, and I want to see our citywide recycling rates increase. Wouldn’t it be better for all of us, though, to find ways to divert as much of our household garbage as possible, from both the trash can and the recycling bin?

And Southern Beale has some of her own input on the issue as well.

Yesterday’s article on Nashville’s “Curby” program came at an interesting time, since I have been meaning to call Metro Public Works to get another green cart out at our place. Mr. Beale and I recycle, and since pick up is just once a month, our two 64-gallon bins are always filled to overflowing.

I have a little challenge with myself to see how little actual garbage I can generate. One week I actually got it down to one large garbage bag, but I suspect that’s because we ate out a lot that week. The truth is, we generate plenty of garbage at our house.

She has a lot more fascinating detail about the economics and politics of recycling as well. Many of those same questions were being asked by Ben at Taxing Tennessee. Actually, they’re being asked by a man called Nate from Lawrenceburg.

Crawford, who terms himself a “country boy from Lawrenceburg,” never used it, and his questions about the program have only grown.

“I did not want my tax dollars spent for that. I feel the same way now when it’s only being used by 37 percent of the people.

I personally live outside the district where Metro picks up the trash, and I have to pay for my own trash pickup–and should I be interested–my own recycling. Frankly I still think that if everyone had to pay for their own trash pickup and also pay a poundage rate we’d see a lot less trash. It’s sort of like how people make sure to turn off the lights if they’re getting big electric bills. Hitting the wallet is the best way to reduce waste.

JMG has some insight into a possible sexual assault on her college campus.

Why was this female student “incapacitated”? Is it possible, just by an off chance, that she had passed out from drinking herself into oblivion? I hear from students all the time about their drinking binges in which the next day they remember little to nothing of the previous night’s events. How does this student know that in a drunken stupor, she didn’t consent to sex?

And does she plan to tell her parents about this “possible” sexual assault? If she does, will they be objective enough to realize her level of irresponsibility in putting herself into that kind of situation? Or will they want to place all the blame on the male student, or even blame the university?

There’s a big discussion brewing over at Connie Lane’s about the casting for Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince.

I was never attached enough to the character of Lavender Brown to begin with to give much thought about what she looked like. And I certainly was not scouring the movie or the film credits to see who played her. Jennifer Smith was in one movie, in a non-speaking role, and even if I *had* known who she was, I’d have known they would cast someone else for HBP. Lavender’s role becomes more important in HBP, so it makes total sense that they would have different casting criteria for her now than they did five years ago when they were just looking for faces to fill out the crowd and didn’t even know what kind of part she’d play in the events of HBP.

The big deal is this: Jennifer Smith, who played the role of Lavender Brown in Prisoner of Azkaban was black. Until the Half-Blood Prince book came out, many people assumed that Lavender Brown was pretty much a literary “extra” and would have no larger part to play. Then in HBP she and Ron have a passionate affair. Now that the character has a larger role, she’s been recast. And this time the actress is white. (The books never clearly mention her skin colour, although there is a passage in HBP that says Harry couldn’t tell where Ron’s arms ended and Lavender’s began because they were always entertwined. Many have assumed this denotes they are the same skin colour.)

So, is the new casting racist?

(H/T to Insight at RedState) for pointing me back to his main blog to find these excellent random thoughts in a post titled ‘The America the Next Election Might Save’.

The thoughts Ralph offers are what I would have written had I been that good. If the measure of a man’s intelligence is directly proportional to how much he agrees with you, Ralph is brilliant! As an example, I offer,

Despite what you were conditioned to believe in school, there are winners and losers in life. You will spend time in both camps.

If you are currently a winner, be objective about how much of your current status is due to good luck, and how much is due to your own efforts. Do not gloat.

If you are currently a loser, be objective about how much of your current status is due to your own lack of effort, and how much is due to bad luck. Resolve to work harder.

Click through to read more …

Blue

Ariah Fine has some ideas about the Economy Of Jesus. Quite simply, he believes that Christians should operate on a different economic level and with different interactions than non-Christians.

* Whenever possible, foster a gift economy.
This goes beyond just sharing stuff. Instead, it encourages people to
give stuff without expectation.
* Christians should try to open source all of their intellectual property.
Instead of seeing our creations as our property, we should see it as
belonging to the Body of Christ. I believe that this is more faithful
to our theology than assuming that we “need to work within the system.”
We don’t anymore.
* Garden with friends and share the bounty.
* Supplement your gardening with Community Supported Agriculture.
* Share housing. It frees up money for other
things, fosters sharing of resources, encourages hospitality, and helps
us live the way that most people in the world live (and the way folks
in America lived before the 1940s).
* Start making and fixing more things yourself.

* If you can’t make it or fix it, buy it used.
* Instead of investing in your future, invest in the futures of others through micro-financing.
* Reclaim Christmas as a celebration of Christ, rather than a
celebration of affluence.

He goes into detail about these points at his blog. Many of them are interesting points to ponder for those of us who are Christian.