Weather Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This
It was a gorgeous weekend here in East Tennessee. After Friday’s welcome rain, Saturday was sunny and warmer, but still with a hint of fall in the crisp air. The trees are taking on brilliant hues and their leaves are starting to fall. I spent much of the afternoon out among them, enjoying the lovely day. Autumn is my favorite season — even more so now that I live in the South. After the heat and humidity of a Tennessee summer, it’s a huge relief when cooler temperatures finally arrive. Add to that some wonderful colors and fragrances, and it’s a joy to behold.
Obama Kicks It Into Gear
His transition web site is up at change.gov (and it’s very hip!).
Welcome to a New Blogger
My favorite US governor, David Paterson, is blogging over at Pam’s House Blend. His first post, Historic, For All The Right Reasons, appeared on Wednesday. You can find an rss feed of Paterson’s posts here.
On Health Care
It was two weeks ago today that I threw my back out. I still sometimes look like a question mark, still can’t sit for very long, and I’m still not sleeping very well. And I’ve yet to get any real medical treatment — from a system that we, as Americans, pay more into per capita than anyone else in the industrialized world (and costs are escalating at an alarming rate).
I called my primary care physician immediately that day, and was able to get an appointment for last Wednesday. When I saw the doctor in a very brief appointment (for which I waited close to two hours), she said she would call in a referral to a physical therapist. Her nurse called me later that day to confirm the referral, but I’m still waiting to hear from the PT…
I’d love to compare notes with someone outside the US. I can’t imagine a health care system that’s worse than this one. I’m a very healthy, active person with supposedly good insurance, and yet two weeks after an injury, I’m still waiting for basic treatment.
I’ve Got No Use for Mormons
Last Tuesday night was indescribable. I was so nervous and for a lot of the evening, I saw lots of eggs, but no birds. And then suddenly, as the polls closed in western states at 11pm, there were the chickens I had steadfastly refused to count, even in those last days of the campaign, when others were starting to crow about the inevitability of an Obama win. I cheered, I laughed, I cried. Victory feels good. The elation was incredible, and it carried me to bed that night.
I woke up on Wednesday with a smile on my face, but then I sat down to check on some races still unsettled the night before, and learned that Prop 8 passed in California, along with similar initiatives in Florida in Arizona. What a crushing disappointment. The most disgusting part of Prop 8 is that its passage was largely funded by out-of-state contributions from the Mormons (should they still get to be tax exempt?). I don’t understand why these people feel so compelled to jam their twisted and deranged morality down the throats of the rest of us, but until they back off, the state of Utah and the Marriott hotel chain can kiss a lot of dollars goodbye.
(I would leave Bob and Sundance alone though — he’s a progressive activist and I’m sure the festival will find a creative way to weigh in on the issue.* Also, Steve Young is pretty much the only prominent Mormon who didn’t support Prop 8. On the other hand… Donny and Marie? Screw ‘em — a cashed version of a deleted post on the Osmand Family Blog speaks out in support of Prop 8.)
*UPDATE: then again, maybe not… hrmmm…
I’m eating and arugula and spinach salad with some squash soup (how elitist is that, huh?!?) and tuning into the beginning of the convention coverage. There’s a great lineup for the evening, and while I’m watching, I’ll be tossing out a few links from the weekend:
• Tennessee Liberal Blogosphere Weekly Roundup: Biden Edition!
• Save the dates! The debate schedule has been announced!
• Majority of U.S. Voters Open to Electing Gay President.
• McCain to announce VP pick on Friday.
• A team of paleontologists have discovered a huge Stone Age cemetery in the Sahara desert. Here is a woman and two children who were found holding hands, arms outstretched toward each other, with evidence to suggest they were laid to rest on a bed of flowers (follow the link for more photos and a video about the find from National Geographic).
• American team members to watch now that the Olympic games have moved on from swimming to track & field.
• What if Karl Rove were working for the Obama campaign?
• This is just the kind of thing that long ago made me resolve to never do business with AT&T again. I found myself on more than one occasion trying to get my money back from AT&T after they over-charged me for lame or inept reasons. For them, screwing customers while hoping they’re not paying attention is the #1 item in their business practices manual. And in this case, someone turned their frustration into to a bit of silliness.
• Everyone’s favorite East Tennessee politician is back once again! This time, she’s talking about Jesse Helms, who she says is a great American. (Of course, as much as I loves me some Griffiny Juneness, I gotta wonder what sort of crack heads are running the KNS these days!)
- Have the Republicans become the party of instant satisfaction and gratification? This illustration offers some numbers in support of the suggestion:
- Do you have any idea why McCain won’t comment on matters of marital infidelity? It’s not like him to give up a chance to be high and mighty…
- A lot of locals have been excited to discover that Google Street View has come to Chattanooga, and they are pouring over the maps to find all the easter eggs caught in the images. But will they find anything as quite as spooky as a house on fire?
- Tennessee’s progressive blogosphere Sunday roundup.
- Quote of the week, from Ian McKellan, regarding an (yet another) intolerant religious leader: “From the pulpit, homophobia is preached by some arrogant religious leaders who think their beliefs are superior to our inborn and, some would say, God-given nature.” Ha!
- Here’s a puzzler:
So John McCain apparently lifted huge portions of his statement on the unfolding crisis in Georgia from Wikipedia. Here’s a 3 AM question for you: do you want a President with a real strategy for containing such a crisis, or do you want someone who’s stumbling over wikipedia entries after getting internet lessons from his wife? I guess when it comes to McCain and foreign policy, it’s a google!
I don’t think he’s up for the job, but we’ll see. (UPDATE: more here and here!) - Mind-boggling quote of the day, from George W. Bush on Russia’s activities in Georgia: “Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state…. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century…. We have no doubts about it. This is a deliberate attempt to destroy an entire country and change the regime.” I am speechless. (UPDATE: more here!)
- Will a Southern community serve as a nuclear waste dump?
Yesterday was primary day here in Tennessee. It wasn’t a great day for Hamilton County (we now have a (-nother) kinda sketchy sheriff, since this guy won. But it was a good day in Tennessee, which was struggling through a (-nother) pretty embarrassing primary over on the western side of the state — even attracting national attention — because happily, one of the worst candidates ever suffered a humiliating (in every sense possible) defeat. And we get to keep Steve Cohen, who is a great representative. Ha. The good people won.
If you’ve never followed a sheriff’s race in the south, you’ve been missing out. We’ve got all the drama, intrigue, corruption and dirty tricks you could ask for! Check it out!
Just a few interesting places I’ve come upon recently…
- Infamous East TN Moonshiner (via A wonderful yarn on moonshining)
- Check your Internet speed — you locals can get a measurement while you’re still on Comcast, so that you’ll have something to compare to once EPB’s fiber is rolled out! (via AmericaBlog) (three tests I did [down/up]: 8512/1223, 10,207/1545, 14,018/1611)
- Jonathan Alter on McCain: “For a man who will turn 72 this month, he’s a surprisingly immature politician”
- Garfield minus Garfield (via A Free Man). Here’s a sample:
And then there’s this…
- Ted Talks: My Year of Living Biblically
- Barack Obama is planning to visit Tennessee!
- And who doesn’t need to get rid of some clutter?
- Why You’re Better Off Avoiding the iPhone (via cmwillis).
- Do you ever read something that is just so incredibly stupid that you have trouble even trying to process the folly? Usually I’m left speechless by extreme cases of idiocy like this one (also see here), whereas Naamah had no such trouble in responding (don’t follow the link if you’re bothered by colorful language).
And finally, there’s this gem. Way back in the day, when Dear Daughter was just a toddler, and she thought that the TV only had one channel, and that that channel had only one hour of programming a day (see, we ruin our kids when we let them go off to school and they find out about all sorts of evil stuff, like Disney and candy and Chuck E. Cheese), she used to get to watch Sesame Street. I probably wouldn’t let her watch it if she was a kid now, but back then, before Elmo, and before Jim Henson died and the Muppets got whored out to anyone wanting to make a sleazy buck, it was a pretty cool show. And it was because of features like Put Down the Ducky.
I can still see her in my mind’s eye, clutching her little plastic saxophone while doing a hoppy little dance and shrieking along with the song, while I enjoyed it for all the cool people who made appearances (John Candy as Yosh Schmenge from SCTV, Andrea Martin as Edith Prickley from SCTV, New York Mets Keith Hernandez & Mookie Wilson, Jane Curtin, Madeline Kahn, Joe Williams, Paul Reubens/Pee Wee Herman, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Wynton Marsalis, Celia Cruz, Ihtzak Perlman, Gordon Jackson & Jean Marsh as Angus Hudson and Rose Buck of Upstairs Downstairs, Paul Simon, Jeremy Irons, Pete Seeger, Rhea Perlman and Danny Devito, and NY Giants Sean Landeta, Mark Ingram, Karl Nelson and Carl Banks). I hope the video doesn’t get yanked off of youtube, but if it does, I’ll try to find a replacement somewhere…
This is huge news for Chattanooga, so I’m going to do a new thread to follow the coverage:
- Chattarati: Updated: Did We Actually Get Volkswagen? Yes.
- Knoxviews: Chattanooga lands VW plant?
- Tennessee Ticket: Confirmed: Chattanooga to Land VW Plant (updated)
- Times Free Press: Reports say VW picks Chattanooga for plant
- No Silence Here: VW coming to TN!
- Vote 08: Willkommen Nach Chattanooga, Volkswagen!!!
- Times Free Press: VW revealing plant decision
- This Old Drug House: VW in Chattanooga - a historical irony not lost on me
- Tennessee Ticket: Extra! Extra!
- Rabbit Valley Road: My Other Car is a VW
- No Silence Here: VW: You can’t buy this kind of publicity
- No Silence Here: Comments on the VW news
- No Silence Here: Bloggers on the VW news
- No Silence Here: VOLkswagen
- Worst Mayor Ever: Thank You, Gov. Bredesen
- Big Stupid Tommy: No wonder I woke up saying Fahvergnuhgen
- Times Free Press: Chattanooga ‘best fit’ for VW, CEO says
- Times Free Press: Chattanooga State to help
- Times Free Press: Assembly plant brings jobs, research and development
- Times Free Press: Local residents excited about VW plant
- Times Free Press: Other industry sought
- Times Free Press: VW considers profitable strategy
- Times Free Press: VW incentives could top $400 million over 20 years
- Times Free Press: Drivers in VW recruitment ‘realize dream’
- Chattaoogan.com: Chattanooga Chosen For $1 Billion Volkswagen Plant
- Chattaoogan.com Galleries: Volkswagen Comes To Chattanooga Photo Gallery, Volkswagen Announcement , VIDEO: Volkswagen Announcement
- Chattanoogan.com: Officials Praise VW Decision
- Chattanoogan.com: Volkswagen Chose Chattanooga Due To Infrastructure, Site Readiness, Core Values
- Chattanoogan.com Opinion: Volkswagen Has A World Class Opportunity
- VW.com (note that Tennessee has already been added to their career center!)
- No Silence Here: VOLkswagen and East Tennessee
- No Silence Here: VW: Deal not revealed, and not everybody’s happy
- Cup of Joe Powell: Volkswagen Deal or No Deal?
- Chattanoogan.com: Volkswagen To Initially Pay Only School Tax, Will Be Given 1,350 Acres
- Chattanoogan.com: Ramsey Says Local Team Was “Persistent” In Drive To Lure Volkswagen
and VW Decision Was The Result Of Tireless Efforts (and Responses)
