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September 30, 2005

The Full Moon

Yes, I know. The lunar phase is nowhere near full right now. (This morning, in fact, I noticed my 11-month-old noticing the Moon for the first time, in the exceptionally clear 7am sky, and I described it to him as a "thumbnail moon.") I'm referring to alleged cult leader and Washington Times owner Sun Myung Moon, aka The Reverend Sun Myung Moon, alias humanity's "savior, Messiah, Returning Lord and True Parent."

Yeah, see, there was this coronation ceremony in March of last year. I didn't hear about it until June of last year, courtesy of Ron Gunzburger (scroll down the monthly archive).

Fast forward to just now, when I was reading an article from the Washington Times, courtesy of The Raw Story, about the HUD director and some comments he made about New Orleans never being as "black" again. Yeah. But how is that related to the Moon coronation, you ask?

Well, maybe it's not. But it just struck me as interesting that two members of Congress who were quoted, right up front, in this article in a Moon-owned publication as criticizing Alphonso Jackson, were two of the members of Congress who attended the ceremony: Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois, and Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland.

Maybe I'm reading way too much into that connection. After all, both Congressmen are outspoken on African-American issues, and Jackson's comments were on a related topic. But it just seemed interesting that they got the call from the "WaTi" reporter. Danny Davis wore white gloves and carried Moon's crown. I'm just sayin'.

Interesting, disturbing side note — how I missed it last year is beyond me, but it seems that our own Harold Ford, Jr. is listed on the invitation to the Moon coronation event as a "Congressional Co-Sponsor."

Posted by joe lance in Government at 9:33 PM

September 29, 2005

Warren's Peace

Well, well. William Cotton, Hamilton County Commissioner for District 4, is the latest to be netted by the FBI in "Operation Tennessee Waltz." He barely had time to finally vote on fellow waltzer Charles Love's replacement before being arrested, cuffed, and hauled to the Solomon building.

(Hat tip: Nashville blogger Bob Krumm, who in turn credits another Nashvillite.)

UPDATE I: The post title? For out-of-towners and any uninitiated locals, Dr. Warren Mackey was Cotton's challenger in the 2002 election. Cotton's extremely narrow victory was certified, but due to allegations of fraud, an investigation is still underway. (A former Election Commission worker lost her job over accusations that she provided information she shouldn't have to Mr. Cotton.) Dr. Mackey has renewed his challenge for the seat in 2006. Ergo, Cotton's arrest this morning is "Warren's peace." Yes, I'm a victim of that punny-headline ailment. It's part of the package.

UPDATE II: Oh, I get it now. (Dense today.) This must be why Cotton refused to sit on any County Commission committees.

Posted by joe lance in Government at 4:27 PM

Quote of the..Friday Before Last

"My problem with [Nashville's Coyote Ugly bar] boils down to this: I don't want to go to a bar that is based on a movie that is based on a bar; I just want a drink. The rest is parsley."

-- Sarcastro

Posted by joe lance in Miscellaneous at 3:22 PM

September 28, 2005

Pulse Article: Ethics in the Hog Wallow

Note: cross-posted from The Pulse. Link

A branch of the Tennessee General Assembly met at the Marriott in downtown Chattanooga on Tuesday, September 13 – but it wasn’t the House, nor was it the Senate. This was a convention of the Tennessee Lobbyists’ Association, which is the de facto third, and only un-elected, branch of the Legislature.

I’m no full-time reporter, so I hurried to the hotel as soon as I could break away from other duties. TLA President Mark Greene, who kindly filled me in on what had transpired, met me at the door. The assembled professionals had heard from their chief regulator (Drew Rawlins, Executive Director of Tennessee’s Registry of Election Finance). According to Greene, Rawlins’ presentation was largely about upcoming changes to lobbyist registration rules: photo IDs, online registration, and “other technical stuff.” I then grabbed a chair to hear the next speaker’s presentation.

Peggy Kerns is Director of the Center for Ethics in Government, which is a body of the National Conference of State Legislatures. She is a former state legislator herself (1989-97, in Colorado), so she presumably knows a thing or two about lobbyists. She easily took on a sympathetic mien as she attempted to lead Tennessee’s lobbyists toward an understanding of their more scrutinized future. “The trend is definitely toward more regulation,” she advised. She bemoaned the perception of “dirty business” that the media transmit. She recalled reading one midwestern paper’s editorial page where lobbyists were described as emitting “a stench [as] from a hog wallow.” (“That could have been a quote from Tennessee,” she quipped, though she meant to geographically position the reference, not to alienate her audience.) At the same time, she echoed an observation made by many: more laws are not the key to ethics reform. The activities (in short, bribery) that produced indictments in “Operation Tennessee Waltz” were already prohibited by law. What, then, is the problem? Why is there a trend toward more regulation? I gathered a few answers to this question.

1. Kerns repeatedly referred to the public perception that money influences legislative outcomes. Several lobbyists took issue with the concept, with one stating that “if group X spends $25,000 to promote an issue and group Y spends $125,000 to oppose it,” there is no guarantee that group Y will prevail. That got a chorus of agreement. After all, the lobbyists’ contention is that they assist legislators with vital information on the issues to which they are to apply an up-or-down vote, and the amount of money spent to research and present that information is irrelevant. Interesting thought, but let no one forget that the “lobbyists are presenting this information and influencing policy not from a general public interest perspective, but only based on the narrow interests of the organizations they represent,” according to newsbatch.com. Someone with a LexisNexis account could see if reliable studies have been done to determine whether the amount spent positively influences the outcome. I don’t have a LexisNexis account, but my hunch is that the extra $100K in the example above just might help a bit. An increase in the breadth and scope of required disclosures just may help the average citizen “connect the dots” between spending and votes.

2. States are flailing. I say this because the amount of variation from state to state in which lobbyist activities are regulated is staggering. Well, except for Pennsylvania. Their Supreme Court recently struck down all lobbyist regulation laws as unconstitutional (hee hee, it’s good to see that my Operation Justice Enrichment is going as planned – after I get done here, I’m heading to the Keystone State to be a lobbyist). Tennessee, if you didn’t know, currently has two commissions studying reforms – one named by Governor Bredesen (Citizens Advisory Group on Ethics) and one put together jointly by the 104th General Assembly (Rep. Kim McMillan and Sen. Mike Williams, co-chairs). Part of the challenge facing both groups is in merely assembling and analyzing the laws that are on the books in other states, and making a determination on which have shown results. According to Kerns, Tennessee is “on the restrictive end” when it comes to gifts, meals, and beverages that can be provided to legislators by lobbyists; but as she was informed at the pre-convention party on Monday night, there are plenty of loopholes around even those restrictions. And, unlike in other states, Tennessee’s lobbyists are only required to disclose campaign contributions, not their compensation – and neither are lobbyists’ clients (aka “principals”) required to disclose spending. Some states regulate gifts to the extreme (Wisconsin has a “not even a cup of coffee” law), while others are focusing more and more on public relations spending (Tennessee does not). Which ones work? For that matter, do any laws effectively increase ethics?

3. The mainstream media, for the most part, haven’t been doing their jobs. A paltry few among the public are suddenly aware that lobbyists are integral to some very serious problems in how our government really works, and so an outcry is raised for more regulation. Some might say that, in lieu of more (and more confusing) laws, the public just needs a better understanding of how the process works, who’s executing what parts of it, and how much their daily lives are being affected by it – and that, armed with such knowledge, the voters can make more informed decisions on Election Day. There’s a dirty little secret buried in this idea, though: the public might not care enough. Such was the murmur when Kerns raised the point, anyway. I’m all about raising public awareness of, and interest in, how government works – and so reporting on lobbying is definitely on my agenda, since I don’t see much evidence of “citizen lobbyists” going to schmooze our elected representatives on behalf of the general public. Every lobbyist has at least one special interest to which she is beholden and responsible. (The idealist in me says that the legislators themselves should negate the need for “general public lobbyists,” but I don’t hold out much hope that they actually have time, or incentive, to act as such.)

The questions aren’t all answered, though. Why do more than half the states require lobbyist and/or principal spending disclosures? Is it better for citizens to know how much is spent per bill, a total by industry, or specific fees that are awarded? Why should lobbyists have to disclose, but the notorious “527” groups get to keep their numbers secret? These and more will furrow many brows during the coming months, and the Civic Forum is one distillation of information related to them that will, hopefully, quench the public’s thirst for knowledge.

Posted by joe lance in Government | Pulsations at 2:26 PM

Your Midweek Gin

Progressive activist and columnist Dan Sweeton says things that sound a lot like what I have heard from the far right corner (TeamGOP, Bill Hobbs, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Moder). What's going on here? Is it populism, general disaffectedness, or do these folks not know that they're all part of a Common Cause?

We work to strengthen public participation and to ensure that the political process serve [sic] the public interest, rather than the special interests.

Our purpose is clear: make public officials and public institutions accountable and responsive to citizens.

Am I the only one who considers this text as equally likely coming from Common Cause or from Tennessee Tax Revolt? I don't know whether we need to go ahead and all-out fight the "culture war," or get to a cease-fire situation, but one way or another that little puppy needs to be resolved, since it is largely responsible for some of the biggests rifts between otherwise like-minded men and women. (Admittedly, there are also major differences in how some of us view the role of government in economic matters; but part of me wants to believe that, if we returned to true citizen rule, we'd work out the balance.)

Speaking of fighting wars, there's a young one brewing over at Tennessee Liberal's un-home.

For a taste of the truly bizarre, though, you'll have to dig into the Civic Forum archives and read some of the comments left by Phil Driscoll fans. (I'm not sure all of them understand that their comments don't go directly to Phil. Furthermore, this post's reaction is one of the reasons I'm considering a name change for this blog.) My favorite snippet, so far: "PS....Met you at a Amway conference. You blessed me to tears of joy."

The campaign for Republican Senate Nominee is getting more interesting all the time, at least in the Tennessee blogosphere. Today's picks: 1) Conservatives for Corker blasts back at TeamGOP for the latter's latest attempt to associate Bob Corker with specific issue positions held by his vast array of supporters; 2) Nathan Moore and B4B tag-team Van Hilleary's stump speech (and supporters), from a Corker and Bryant perspective, respectively. UPDATE: Kleinheider lends some thoughts to the rumor that Bill Frist is actually re-eyeing his current Senate seat. I wouldn't hold my breath. This HCA stock sale not only sent Frist's POTUS ambitions the way of certain Boston-area kittens, but it would possibly give Bryant* and Corker* the temerity to stay in the race, and welcome him to the party only to beat him on the ethics rap. You think he hasn't thought of that? (*Van? Oh, yes, he's already proved his pluck.)

What can I say? I'm Pulse-ified again. I'm going to cross-post the article here because — well, because I can.

Posted by joe lance in Bob Corker for Senate | Elections | Miscellaneous | Political News at 11:12 AM

September 27, 2005

..but she don't talk THAT good.

Did Jeffrey Wilson just get a whole lot more classy-looking? Purhaps.

Okay, here's what happens next. William Cotton, citing a newfound sympathy for Ms. Smith, changes his vote from [abstain] to Andrea.

Either Fred Skillern or Bill Hullander decides to pass, based on a combination of ire at Adams (not, mind you, for selling him out, but for claiming, however rightfully, the title "senior commissioner") and unwillingness to vote alongside Cotton.

The deadlock continues.

Oh, you think it impossible? Such would not be the first time the Hamilton County Commission resembled a second-rate reality-show cast.

I'm just sayin'.

Posted by joe lance in Government at 4:52 PM

September 25, 2005

Open House?

I'm still not ready to raise the curtain on the whole suite of Civic Forum Candidate Pages, but since I've noticed so many little differences by reviewing them in just two browsers, I wanted to get some initial feedback on one page. I can then tweak the CSS and/or markup based on your comments.

Oh, and by the way, I am planning to offer alternate stylesheets. How better to keep with the voting theme, than to have end users choose their preferred style? However, for today's preview, I'm only offering one.

The basic setup for all the candidate pages will be like so: at the top is a table of contents that houses references to all of the positions for the legislative body in question (so, in the case of the TN House, 99 seats). Click on the district number to visit that spot on the page. Under each position heading are three lists: Declared Candidates, Potential Candidates, Inactive Candidates. Each listed candidate has a spot for information about him or her, if any is known. I'm putting a "back to top" navigation after each position, so that you won't have to scroll to view, say, District 18's candidates and then District 97's.

Click here to view the prototyped next release of the Tennessee House of Representatives page, and then come back to add your comments. Criticism and suggestions are most welcome. The State Senate, US House, US Senate, Governor, and Hamilton County pages are pending this reader review process. Oh, and City of Chattanooga too, since we elect a judge or two next year.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by joe lance in Site News at 6:38 PM | Comments (2)

September 23, 2005

Singin' the Belews

UPDATE: No time to write. For now, please do check Bill's excellent post, including setlist.

A seriously big name is headlining Nightfall tonight: Adrian Belew. My friend Kenny met him a few years back and was really impressed by his non-star-like, down-to-Earth persona. I'm impressed by anyone who has been a guitarist with Frank Zappa and David Bowie (and that's just the shortest bit of his long list of collaborations).

I admit that I don't know his solo material very well (I remember catchy "Oh Daddy" of course, with the inflatable-guitar video), but there's always more to listen to and learn (just not enough time).

I'm looking forward to hearing some loud prog/fusion/rock for a change. I think I've gotten folk'd-out (or should that be folk'd up?) lately (when I haven't been over in Power94-land, that is).

I'll try to post some post-show thoughts later tonight or in the morning.

Posted by joe lance in Nightfall & Riverbend at 2:07 PM | Comments (1)

Bad News Friday

As a part-time local musician, I know first-hand what it's like to get a gig lined up and then to have the whole event canceled. That has happened to me twice in just the past couple of months. I can't imagine, then, what it must be like to be one of the acts that were expecting to play this year's HarvestFest. I guess the economic news that seemed to be getting more positive in the last few months has been all but overshadowed by these hurricanes and their devastating effects.

NPR said this morning that Hurricane Rita was moving at about nine miles per hour across the Gulf — and that that speed was faster than the fleeing traffic was able to travel. Then we have the news about the bus occupants. Horrifying.

An AP story this morning says that a girl is being expelled from school because her parents are gay. Yes, it's a private school, and they have the right to deny admission to anyone for any [legal] reason, I guess; but the student didn't do anything "wrong." Why punish her? I'll never understand this fear of homosexuality. Do the school administrators somehow think that this student will "infect" others with some kind of "gay virus" that she "carries" from home? Go on, people, shield your young 'uns from even knowing the very simple fact that there are gay persons. Churn out those hyper-sheltered, brainwashed, irrational beings; infiltrate society with mindless sheep you can continually control. And people have problems with illegal immigrants from Mexico. For crying out loud..

..and as the tears flow, don't forget that the United States House of Representatives voted yesterday to allow Head Start programs to practice hiring discrimination based on the applicant's religion. Is there somewhere I can sign up to elect where my tax dollars are NOT spent? Unlike some, I have no problem with paying into the upkeep of society; but when the stewards of my funds then dole them out to organizations that [quite naturally and through no fault of their own, if you think about it] stray from Constitutional principles (disclaimer: I'm not a Constitutional lawyer), then I do have a problem with that. After this vote, I'm inclined to join the hardcore fiscal conservatives and say that we shouldn't be using federal monies for preschool at all.

Now, on this Jesse Register contract thing: why the sudden uproar? Didn't the School Board already vote much earlier in the year that, no matter when Dr. Register left, he would be paid throughout the end of his contract? I'm just not sensing the "smoke-filled room" that others are conjuring. I think they're just finding an excuse to whine about the fact that Dr. Register wasn't immediately marched to the edge of town by an angry mob as soon as he announced his retirement. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken about the prior contract arrangement.

Posted by joe lance in Miscellaneous at 10:07 AM

September 20, 2005

Absurdist Local Government

Wait until Councilman Leamon Pierce finds out! The Chattanooga City Council's Legal and Legislative Committee has recommended a measure that would outlaw "chickens and roosters" in the City -- oh, except that "chickens and roosters" can still be kept by owners of at least five acres. Rich man's "game" indeed — did I just hear Councilman Benson make a pun?

"Chickens and roosters." If I had time, I would do up a whole Guest/McKean/Shearer routine, something about "now which one's the hen?" and so on. Do we also have laws about "vehicles and motorcycles," or "buildings and houses"? (UPDATE: The wife reminded me that there was a memorable bit on Seinfeld where the Costanzas were having dinner with Susan's parents for the first time, and the whole "chicken/hen/rooster" topic was discussed. (I do sort of remember it, because Jerry Stiller made me laugh when asking about which was having sex with what.) She then went on to label me "Chattanooga's Andy Rooney" for taking issue with the Council's terminology.)

We'll have to see whether or not Councilman Pierce will keep his promise to the chickens he loves so much, and refuse to vote "against" them.

Next subject. Curtis Adams has found his nerve again, and tells Dr. Register not to let the door hit him on his way out. Blustery talk after someone says he's leaving is downright cowardly. But we already had our suspicions about Curtis Adams in that department. I wonder how much of his vitriol against Register has been based in pure diploma envy? Inferiority complexes can make for brash talk (I should know), but this after-the-fact puffing is too hilarious for words. Except, um, I just wrote some.

Finally, we have the "playful inter-office innuendoes get ugly" story from the CPD. It's nice to know that the ones protecting and serving are so mature. It's also nice to see Councilwoman Marti Rutherford blissfully floating downstream with the tired sexist line that "it's all her fault." No. Dude has twenty years on the force. If some rookie (male or female, for that matter) makes a pass or says something untoward, the professional thing to do is to put a stop to it right there and then, and to show by example how to behave in the workplace.

Andy, your days are numbered, my old friend. I can't wait to meet that Ed Bradley.

Posted by joe lance in Government at 7:02 PM

Rita Ballou

DOPPLER RADAR DATA...SATELLITE PRESENTATION AND PRESSURE FALLS FROM THE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT INDICATE THAT RITA HAS REACHED CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE STRENGTH ON THE SAFFIR/SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE.

Source

Posted by joe lance in Nature at 11:02 AM

September 19, 2005

All's Fair

I just received an e-mail from the John Bailes for County Commission campaign (which now has a blog up and running, by the way — good for them).

John's going to be tabling at the Hamilton County Fair this coming weekend, and is looking for volunteers to help with the following shifts on both days:

10 a.m. - 12 noon
12 noon - 2 p.m.
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
4 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Please let him know how you can help by visiting his website or by sending an e-mail to john [at] johnbailesforcommissioner [dot] org (you know the drill: '@' and '.' symbols spelled out here to avoid spamming the guy).

More info about the fair is available here.

Posted by joe lance in Elections at 9:10 PM | Comments (1)

Naming Convention

Here's the deal, folks: I came up with the name for this blog on the fly while filling out an online application from Chattablogs. I don't know why I used the word "forum," but I did.

Now I am seeking to at least slightly adjust the blog's title, with the main reason being that it's simply not a forum. It's a soapbox, and it's a repository of information. It's [going to be, I promise] a place to see what your ballots will look like in 2006 (and, if all goes well, beyond), and to read [sometimes drab, other times outrageous] commentary on events ranging from Chattanooga politics to Tennessee government to education to music to natural phenomena.

So, what should such a site be called? I am officially taking suggestions. Leave them in the Comments.

Apologies in advance are hereby offered to all those who have manually blogrolled some variation of the current title.

And, it should be noted, since I do not have any plan to change the URI/URL, I may indeed decide to just stick with "Chattanooga-Hamilton Civic Forum" after all. But submit your ideas anyway, and we'll see.

Posted by joe lance in Site News at 10:50 AM | Comments (1)

September 18, 2005

Leaves of Grass

What's the matter with Kansas? For one thing, some Kansas cops don't know their state flower from a cannabis plant. (What's the state flower of Kansas? The Sunflower.) This story just boggles the mind.

Let's see:

sun006.jpg
Uh-huh.

canabis.jpg
Yep.

sun010.jpg
Ya sure.

zt978b02.jpg
All the same thing. Got it.

(HT: Pete Guither)

UPDATE: In fairness, the real deal, not the garden variety:

Smithplant.jpg

Posted by joe lance in Government at 9:17 PM

Bienvenue Philippe

I'm glad that people who know what they're doing are watching the oceanic and atmospheric developments. I looked at the satellite images a few days ago, and I was concerned about a formation that was, at the time, just north of Puerto Rico. It looked pre-cyclonic, to me.

I also saw a cluster of storms further to the south-southeast, off the Lesser Antilles, but it didn't seem to pack much of a punch.

This is where the experts come in. That more southern cluster of storms became Tropical Depression Seventeen, and, not much later, is now Tropical Storm Philippe.

However, I take a little pride in spotting the other one, even though I dismissed Seventeen, because the NHC is now discussing it as Depression Eighteen, and is currently forecasting it to become a tropical storm later today.

THE RECONAISSANCE AIRCRAFT THAT WAS EN ROUTE TO TROPICAL STORM PHILIPPE WAS DIVERTED TO THE DEPRESSION...AND WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THE LAST MINUTE FLEXIBILITY OF THE AIRCREW. WHEN THEY FIRST GOT TO THE DEPRESSION...THEY DIDN'T FIND MUCH...INCLUDING ONLY 5 KT OF WEST WIND AND A CENTER SOUTHWEST OF THE DEEP CONVECTION. HOWEVER...ON THEIR SECOND PASS THROUGH THEY FOUND THAT THE CENTER HAD MIGRATED OR REDEVELOPED CLOSER TO THE CONVECTION...WHICH IS NOW TAKING ON A SLIGHTLY MORE BANDED APPEARANCE ON THE FIRST FEW IMAGES AFTER THE SATELLITE ECLIPSE. THESE OBSERVATIONS SUGGEST THAT THE DEPRESSION IS BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED.

This is the one that worried me, because it seems headed straight for The Bahamas, across South Florida, and into the Gulf of Mexico.

I'll keep watching Philippe, and what will likely become Rita, and expect that the experts will as well.

Philippe and Eighteen.jpg

Posted by joe lance in Nature at 10:53 AM

September 16, 2005

Music this Weekend

Tonight, get good and low with the Be Good Tanyas at Nightfall. 8pm, Miller Plaza. Read more about them on the web. If you can make it by 7, you'll enjoy opening band John Lathim & Company. As always, Nightfall shows are FREE.

Tomorrow night, there is a great Red Cross/Katrina benefit to attend down at the Pavilion (Cricket, 1st Tennessee, whatever firm's name will be on it after that — can we just call it the Southside Pavilion? or a more creative name?). "Blues for the Bayou" promises Bonnie Bramlett, and Tommy Crain (formerly of the Charlie Daniels Band), among others. The minimum admission charge is ten bucks — a great deal! — so be kind and bring a little extra for the hurricane victims.

There's a lot more to hear, obviously, but these are two shows that I felt should be brought to your attention.

Posted by joe lance in Community | Nightfall & Riverbend at 9:37 AM

September 15, 2005

William's Choice

Please, fellow Hamilton Countians, let's get out the vote, for sure this time, next election. Look. You have until May to figure out your schedule to vote in the primary; and then you have three more months after that to make time to vote in the August general election, and thus get rid of some of these embarrassing county officials.

It's one thing to disagree with a rational person on a matter of policy. It's quite another to see the shenanigans that continue, week after absurd week, on the Board of Commissioners of one of the four most populous counties in the State of Tennessee.

I expected to simply go to my in-progress candidate page template tonight and to quietly add the new School Board member for the 5th District. Instead, I get this.

I can't say much more without resorting to the nonsensical and/or profane, so I'll stop here.

UPDATE: It seems that I'm not the only one.

Posted by joe lance in Government at 9:12 PM | Comments (6)

Two Ophelias

Yes, I spared you the tired old "A Tale of" riff. But there are two Ophelias in the news today; one to the East of me, and one to the West.

The Hurricane Ophelia might not be making as big a splash as I once thought it might. [Side note: the top Google link was to a South Africa site?]

And, according to Memphis Blue and John Farmer, neither might the other Ophelia.

Both would be cause for much relief.

Posted by joe lance in Elections at 4:22 PM

September 13, 2005

Money and Education

As most of you probably know, Metro Nashville is voting today on a proposed sales tax increase (good grief..) that would bring the combined state and local rates to 9.75% (which is the highest allowed under state law). Some of the revenue increase is slated for the Metro public schools. You can find more info on lots of blogs, but you can start with Nathan Moore (anti) and Sharon Cobb (pro) and Bruce Barry (undecided?).

Meanwhile, the Mayors of the four most populous counties in the state are planning a meeting to discuss the BEP (Basic Education Program) and the inequities they feel it imposes on urban school districts. This is a conundrum, because supposedly the whole reason for the BEP was that rural districts weren't getting fair funding from the state. I do remember School Board member Debbie Colburn vowing to address the BEP issue if she were to be elected to the House of Representatives in District 30 (she wasn't, but she put up a good fight).

There's just never enough money for a good public education in Tennessee. We're always ranked in the bottom 5-10 states (depending on who's doing the ranking) for education spending, so that leaves everyone scrapping over the dribble. Urban vs. rural, property owners vs. teachers, the poor vs. the middle class. These kinds of tug-of-war games shouldn't have to be played over schools, and it's my view that they wouldn't (as much) if education were more of a priority in everyone's mind.

Part of the problem is that, for some, education of their children exclusively, never mind anyone else's is a priority, and you see the Boyd Buchanan-Baylor-Vanderbilt track (or substitute your favorite private schools) benefitting the few who can afford it, while the many are left struggling to figure out how to make the best of the public schools. A little hint from this: a good education is not cheap. Education is not a manufacturing business, Fred Skillern, where you can skimp on the quality of raw materials and churn out mediocre product to make a profit. We're talking about future society.

That said, I refuse to just go along with the "more tax no matter what" line of thinking, even though I did support the Casavant-led increase voted in last month here in Hamilton County. For one thing, this creates inequity too. Communities that can afford to tax themselves more end up with better schools than those that can't? I think that's what was behind the BEP decision. And then there's the everpresent question of accountability. What are the schools doing with the (arguably inadequate) sums of money they do get? Are they spending them wisely to create that future society? I may disagree with the Rhonda Thurmans of the world on a lot, but there is some real discussion material when it comes to these things. Yes, educators need to be re-educated, mentored, and compensated in order for them to be the most effective. How much is too much? I don't know. But let's make sure we can find out where the money goes.

Sadly, even transparency won't solve the pervading problem, namely, that education simply doesn't occupy a position of stature in our public mindset. Educators whine and wheedle for unfair property or sales tax increases for no other reason than education's low level of prioritization statewide. Oh, and there is somtimes one more reason: that a much more fair assessment, such as the referendum wheel tax, gets voted down by the very parents of the children that are at stake. Yeesh. It makes me want to be a street preacher -- only, I'd be yelling for people to save their actual futures, not their mythical ones.

I hope Nashville votes down the sales tax increase, but I also hope that all Tennesseans can come to a more reasonable consensus on the intrinsic value -- value that is of critical importance -- of quality education. And, yes, "you get what you pay for."

Posted by joe lance in Education at 12:01 PM

September 12, 2005

Yet Another Reason to Support Warren Mackey in District 4

"..Cotton Mad." Okay, he didn't get the committee assignments he may have wanted; I can sympathize, but I cannot the question is, why would anyone be fooled into thinking that County Commissioner William Cotton would be a good committee steward, if this is the way he behaves when something doesn't go his way?

Citizens of District 4 deserve much, much better than this childish behavior, and that is why they should show up in force next May to elect Dr. Warren Mackey.

Posted by joe lance in Elections at 9:58 PM

"..and she talks good."

Many thanks to Tennessee Liberal for picking up the latest gaffe from "The Education Commissioner" and bringing it to the blogosphere.

Go, go. Go, Johnny, go.

Posted by joe lance in Elections at 9:55 PM

DC Lobbyist Pauses for Moment of Guilt, Then Returns to "SSDD"

Under the Influence has a post this morning that you should take time to read. Bill Allison is developing just the type of snarkastic voice that has been long needed on lobbying and the rivers of cash at the national level.

My favorite bit from today:

Let's see, you don't wear white shoes after labor day, and you don't make donations over -- what? $200? $500? $1,000? -- two weeks after a hurricane?

In slightly related news: if I can work it out, I'll be reporting on tomorrow's meeting of the Tennessee Lobbyists Association, which will be held here in Chattanooga. The TLA may be facing some challenging times of regrouping ahead; or they may be facing only a slightly different version of business as usual on Capitol Hill -- it depends on how much the the two commissions assigned to study and propose ethics reforms are influenced by the lobbyists who oppose said reforms. It should be interesting.

Posted by joe lance in Government at 10:34 AM

September 9, 2005

"I am but mad north-northwest"

OPHELIA IS A PECULIAR CYCLONE.

...OPHELIA MOVING AWAY FROM THE U.S COAST...FOR NOW...

PRESENT MOVEMENT TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST

NOTE...ERRORS FOR TRACK HAVE AVERAGED NEAR 250 NM
ON DAY 4 AND 325 NM ON DAY 5...AND FOR INTENSITY NEAR 20 KT EACH DAY

THIS TROUGH WILL BRING OPHELIA SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST FOR ABOUT A DAY OR TWO. THEN...A STRONG HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. THIS PATTERN WOULD FORCE OPHELIA WESTWARD AND WEST-NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD THE U.S. COAST.

..MODEL CONSENSUS IS THE BASIS TO BRING OPHELIA AS A
HURRICANE TOWARD THE GEORGIA OR SOUTH CAROLINA COAST IN ABOUT 4
DAYS.

A former boss (it was ten years ago when I left her company) was in my dream the night before Ophelia formed as a Tropical Storm off Cape Canaveral..my former boss lives in Cocoa Beach and has a business in Merritt Island..last night two brothers I've known for years showed up in a dream..one lives inland from Savannah (Dublin), and the other lives north of there, somewhere between Athens and South Carolina, I think..

Posted by joe lance in Nature at 2:40 PM

Jumpin' Joey

If at all possible, I am going to make this Nightfall. Some years before I was turned on to Medeski, I had been listening to Jimmy Smith and Joey DeFrancesco -- the latter with John McLaughlin and Dennis Chambers -- thanks to heavy play on WUTC 88.1 FM in about early 1995 or so.

There's something special about the B-3 trio sound. The smooth, sine-wave bass notes from the organ's pedalboard (or, as it turns out, lower manual) seem to make the drums and guitar sound more drily wooden in timbre, and therefore more prominent in the mix. They in turn contrast nicely with the gnarly chirps, growls, and washes of Leslie syrup that emanate from the Hammond's manuals. (All together, the sound is not unlike a good single-malt Scotch.) And, of course, in between and under and over it all is the funk.

Man, if I ever have time to sit and practice, I want to learn to comp the way McLaughlin does behind an organ solo.

Does anyone know who DeFrancesco is playing with on this tour?

UPDATE: I still don't know who they were, but the guitarist was a surprisingly blues-y solidbody (Tele) player, and the drummer carried the rhythm along gracefully, and did some nice "tradin' fours" work in "Sweet Georgia Brown."

Posted by joe lance in Nightfall & Riverbend at 9:34 AM | Comments (1)

September 8, 2005

House District 22 Updates

Here's how the candidate lineup looks at the moment for Chris Newton's old seat:
District 22
Special election to be held: the expected dates are late in 2005.

If anyone knows different or additional information, please notify me. Also, if anyone knows how to temporarily link to an alternate stylesheet within a post (perhaps using [span] but not having to list all of the style elements?), that would be great info.

Posted by joe lance in Elections at 2:01 PM | Comments (1)

September 7, 2005

Are You Reading Conservatives for Corker?

I've been such a slacker in my Bob Corker for Senate blogging lately, but fortunately there is a place to get the blogfix we need.

That's all for now, gotta keep working on the candidate pages.

Posted by joe lance in Bob Corker for Senate at 4:33 PM

Were We Finished Here?

NOTE: This entry has also been published in The Pulse, Chattanooga's Alternative Weekly.

Yes, Chattanooga has undergone incredible improvements in recent years. But isn't there more we could do?

I ask, rather rhetorically, in response to the news that former Design Studio "guru" Stroud Watson and designer Christian Rushing are teaming up with former RiverCity executive/mayoral candidate Ann Coulter, to join Kennedy & Associates -- now to be known as Kennedy, Coulter, Rushing and Watson -- in exporting the firm's urban planning services to cities all over the land. They will look for clients "both near and far," the paper says.

Call me a doubter, but I don't look for the City of Chattanooga, under its current administration, anyway, to become a customer.

What does this mean? Well, some might say that it means we have "chased off" our best talent so that other cities -- not that they don't deserve it, necessarily -- can reap the benefits of a revitalization akin to what Chattanooga has experienced.

I might be inclined to agree with that sentiment, but for the time being I am going to be optimistic that Mayor Littlefield and his administration will work hard to recruit and develop strong resources so that we can, in essence, finish what we started. Littlefield himself was among the early movers and shakers that got the whole downtown renaissance underway; his predecessor, the mighty Bob Corker, executed on an astounding portion of all the planning and vision so that we now enjoy a first-class waterfront (among other amenities, and a trim, positive budget to boot); so now are we going to abandon the remainder of the vision, in particular the un-revitalized parts of the City, just because some of our erstwhile brightest lights want to shine elsewhere?

When does the current Chattanooga Mayor return from China? [Sputter, cough.] I hope we can count on him to appropriately address our ongoing needs, and not just fritter away a few years and thus lose all the momentum. If that starts proving to be a false hope, I expect that you will join me in helping to energize his office toward fulfilling our goals.

Posted by joe lance in Community | Pulsations at 3:07 PM

September 6, 2005

Nate and Sixteen

Here we go: The National Weather Service has issued warnings for Eastern Florida (Melbourne) related to Tropical Depression 16, which is expected to reach Tropical Storm status tonight (and will be called Ophelia). More from NOAA's National Hurricane Center.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nate is thankfully headed out to sea, but according to the probability forecast, will be a hurricane as it passes over Bermuda. Nate had maximum sustained winds of 60mph earlier today.

And I didn't even mention Lee and Maria, in all the (understandable) Katrina aftermath.

There are some wild photos taken inside the eye of Katrina (as a Cat 5!) posted on the NOAA site. I remember looking at similar photos of Ivan last year, but if you've never seen stuff like this, check them out.

Posted by joe lance in Nature at 3:58 PM | Comments (1)

Thank You, Chattanooga!

We took the boy on his first volunteer-type excursion on Sunday (the first of what I hope are many), and dropped off some things for Katrina refugees at the CHA center on North Holtzclaw (thanks for the tip, A). The place was packed! More and more vehicles lined up to enter as we were leaving, and it was close to "closing time" by that point. We were so proud, at that moment, to be Chattanoogans; to see our fellow city- and county-dwellers pouring generosity on those whose lives have been upended; to know that whomever ends up here as a result of being washed from the Gulf shore by so-called "Killer Kat" has a really good chance of being welcomed and even embraced by our most hospitable community.

As of yesterday, the Housing Authority stated that they have no more capacity for our donations. Way to go, Chattanooga! However, items can still be taken to the Community Kitchen. Donating to the Community Kitchen is not only important in our continued effort to aid victims of the latest disaster; it is vital in our effort to stave off hunger and cold this coming Winter among our permanent residents as well. I have a sense that the dramatic increases we are witnessing in energy costs will devastate a lot of small budgets. I ask those of you who are at least a little more fortunate, or blessed, or whatever you consider it, to think about your neighbors and help prepare the Kitchen for their potential time of need.

Posted by joe lance in Community at 7:46 AM

September 2, 2005

Labor of Love?

To all 5 of my regular readers, and to the hapless wanderer who ended up here by accident: there will be light blogging for the next several days, in part because I have set a target date of Labor Day 2005 for the Big Release of the Civic Forum's Election 2006 Candidate Pages, and, well, we're pretty close to that target.

Search engines are starting to buzz with names of potential candidates for Hamilton County, Tennessee General Assembly, U.S. Congress, and Tennessee Governor, and I am becoming more and more embarrassed at what browsers find when they arrive at the pages as they exist today. I can't promise that the improvements will land me a high-paying web design job (but let me at least dream over a 3-day weekend), but I can promise that the pages will be improved.

The mission to provide these candidate pages is why I started to blog in the first place (the blog part was just for me to mouth off, and to point to the candidate pages as they are updated). I will put RSS feed doodads into each one, and subscription button thingys on them, and maybe someday try to incorporate the blog "look and feel" into what are now just static html documents. I don't know, and I don't want to get ahead of myself. Hopefully, though, they will at least allow net users across the state (and, since our Senate race will be so widely watched, across the nation -- heck, planet) to find the information they seek, and to subscribe to receive updates to that information. (And maybe I can put feeds in, as well, from other bloggers who are covering certain races, like Mark Rose in Senate 17?)

I'll need help (as in data) from bloggers and others across the state, especially with the 124 General Assembly districts outside of Hamilton County, and the eight congressional districts that are not #3. I already scour the online papers and other sites for potential candidate names, and I feel I can get a lot of those, but backgrounds, factoids, issue positions -- dang, it sounds like I'm signing myself up for a huge undertaking. That means you may see some other changes coming to this site, namely, uh, ways to offset costs (yes, I have free hosting and will always be grateful for it, but, you know, time=money). (Oh, and since I have a 1999 generic pc with a nearly-full 16GB HD and Win98 OS, I seriously need to be computer shopping.)

All in all, though, I look forward to a very exciting 2006 election season. We already know that it will be the most blogged election ever. Your suggestions and constructive criticisms are most welcome. I don't do so well at taking compliments, though, so just send money in lieu of those. Heh.

Have a safe Labor Day weekend, remember to help the Katrina victims in any way you can, and stay tuned for the campaign stuff.

Posted by joe lance in Elections | Site News at 3:53 PM

September 1, 2005

Kick Down for Hurricane Victims

As so many of you have before me, I've done my little part. If you haven't, you know what to do.

My donee of choice is the American Red Cross. You may find many other choices at Instapundit.

Thanks.

Posted by joe lance in Community at 4:37 PM | Comments (3)

Newton's Out

According to a release published on Chattanoogan.com, Rep. Chris Newton, R-22, will be former Rep. Newton as of tomorrow (earlier, he had set a November 1 resignation date).

Senators Bowers and Crutchfield, we're still waiting..

Posted by joe lance in Government at 4:19 PM

Side Effects of Gerrymandering

According to the Earle of East Lake, one of several contributing factors to Rossville Boulevard's arguable state of urban decay is gerrymandering. I had never thought of this as a cause, but the idea is worth pursuing.

As I'm sure you know, "gerrymandering" is the practice of modifying electoral districts' boundaries so that each district contains a "safe" number of like voters. Since we largely have a two-party system in this country, Democrats and Republicans essentially reach compromise on drawing up the districts, so the percentage of "safe" districts each can claim roughly correlates to the percentage of the applicable legislative body each party controls.

As I hope you also know, political districts are supposed to be drawn according to population numbers, so that our governments retain a fair apportionment of representatives to constituents. I once thought that Congressional districts are required to be evaluated and adjusted every ten years, after each census is completed (but remember all the flack a couple of years ago about off-schedule redistricting in Texas?). I could use some refreshers on how often national, state and local districts are re-drawn. (Enlighten me in the Comments to this post, if you know.)

One of our own Tennessee Congressmen, Rep. John Tanner of District 8, has introduced legislation that would require the establishment of independent redistricting commissions, and that would firm up the schedule to the ten-year interval I thought we already had. I've suffered disappointments with Congressman Tanner's votes on other matters, but on this issue I believe he is in the right place (even though I do anticipate a healthy states' rights argument against such a Congressional mandate). According to the linked editorial, he has bipartisan co-sponsors for the bill.

Tanner's bill would help avoid situations like Texas 2003, and districts shaped like our very own 3rd, but it would not directly impact the situation we started looking at, where Rossville Boulevard straddles Chattanooga City Council and Hamilton County Commission districts alike. What can we do about local district gerrymandering? In fairness, an argument can be made for dividing districts along major arteries like US-27, instead of the carving-up that happens deep into neighborhoods, where people on one side of the street live in a different district than their neighbors'. But the Earle does bring up an important issue, and one that applies to more than just Rossville Boulevard: Does the lack of contiguous political real estate contribute to blight? Districts are comprised of precincts, and precincts are (or should be, I submit) made up of neighborhoods. If a geographically and socially defined area gets split among multiple districts, just so blocs of voters can "belong" to those districts' incumbent candidates/parties, does the resultant lack of electoral cohesion lend itself to other breakdowns in community? This is interesting stuff.

Gerrymandering has been around for a long time -- its namesake helped sign the Declaration of Independence (and if this is not proof that the so-called Founding Fathers weren't infallible, I don't know what is) -- but it has been wrought to a point beyond excess. It leads to the automatic disenfranchisement of up to 49% of a given district, and to an artificial advantage for incumbents (as is evidenced by their extremely high rate of re-election). Politicians who feel "safe" in their gerrymandered districts are susceptible to the erosion of accountability. The list of problems goes on..

Posted by joe lance in Community at 9:01 AM | Comments (3)