![[Valid RSS]](/images/valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
May 6, 2009
With Maine passage, ten percent of states allow same-sex marriages
Maine Governor John Baldacci has just signed into law a bill passed by the Legislature this week that makes same-sex marriage legal. In so doing, Maine becomes the fifth state to grant marriage licenses...Posted by joe lance on 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
March 23, 2009
Senate bill seeks increase in civics education
Tennessee's senior U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander has introduced S.659, with co-sponsors Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, which aims "to improve the teaching and learning of American history...Posted by joe lance on 10:32 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2009
Blogs on bailout bonuses
One of my longtime favorite local blogs waxes salient, in a post by smijer, on the question of whether the bonuses paid by troubled insurance giant AIG to its employees should be returned, in...Posted by joe lance on 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2008
As I bleat in protest
An "only in Tennessee" story that has appeared on a number of news sites and blogs simultaneously sparks alternative-fuel hope and puts a damper on an innovative overgrowth control program. [Doug] Mizell's spent the...Posted by joe lance on 8:06 PM | Comments (0)
July 9, 2008
Why I oppose the death penalty
Not only do I consider it off-limits for a state to exercise the ultimate violence against one of its citizens, even when that individual has committed heinous crimes; I also think that killing the...Posted by joe lance on 8:30 AM | Comments (1)
June 22, 2008
Voting and privacy in Tennessee
I have begun some research into whether or not any laws could have been broken if my hunch were to be correct: that is, if former Chattanooga City Council member Marti Rutherford used voter...Posted by joe lance on 10:46 AM | Comments (0)
June 1, 2008
George Will busts a cap in cap-and-trade
As seen in today's Commercial Appeal: [W]hy not a straightforward tax on fossil fuels based on each fuel's carbon content? This would have none of the enormous administrative costs of the baroque cap-and-trade regime....Posted by joe lance on 9:56 AM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2008
Improved recipe for Kiwi tarts?
New Zealand stopped jailing persons engaged in "the world's oldest profession" five years ago, and studies now show that the industry (which, of course, existed in full force prior to the legislative change) has...Posted by joe lance on 9:26 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2008
Which jurisdiction oversees check cashing? (updated)
Your humble blogger has long been under the impression that local officials are powerless to stop the spread of title-pawn and check-cashing businesses; that state lawmakers would be the ones to regulate them. A...Posted by joe lance on 8:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2008
Conservatives against mountaintop removal
Yes, that's right. If you think about it, a stance such as John Brown's puts the "conserve" in "conservative." There are responsible, and sustainable, ways to remove the valuables from under the ground. Blowing...Posted by joe lance on 11:32 AM
March 27, 2008
Retail wine bill corked?
Why can't we buy a bottle of wine with our artisan bread and imported cheese? Why can't we order a case of our favorite vintage from whatever supplier we choose? Because one of the...Posted by joe lance on 6:20 PM
March 6, 2008
Bottled-up feelings about Tennessee trash
All righty, take a look at some of the photos featured on this website. Now take a walk around your neighborhood, or down any local thoroughfare. See that? It is so stupid to litter,...Posted by joe lance on 2:46 PM
February 8, 2008
Quote on the border/water war
[Georgia] can't just sit on the information [that the border was incorrectly drawn] until there's something about the property that makes it worth taking. If they decided the territory along the border wasn't worth...Posted by joe lance on 10:40 AM
February 7, 2008
Oh the water is wide — just not wide enough
I received a press release from the Tennessee Republican Party yesterday evening that brings up a very delicate issue. The state GOP is reacting to legislation filed recently in Georgia that seeks to alter,...Posted by joe lance on 12:13 PM
November 20, 2007
Corker recaps first year as Senator, faces tough questions
U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) spoke to a hometown crowd estimated at over 500 today at the Chattanoogan hotel's main ballroom. The event was a luncheon organized by Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey and...Posted by joe lance on 10:45 PM
November 5, 2007
I thought it was a bad idea to put sugar in your gas tank
And yet the FedGov is set to spend lots of money to do just that. Furthermore, the sugar industry is, er, sweetening the deal for members of Congress who represent areas that contain no...Posted by joe lance on 6:46 PM
August 19, 2007
Why Are TVA Rates Going Up?
Mike Kelley, aka the grandfather of blogging in these parts, raises an interesting question: why have the media in the Tennessee Valley been silent on reports that a reactor at Browns Ferry is being...Posted by joe lance on 9:51 AM
July 8, 2007
I Was Using CFLs Long Before Al Gore Asked Me To
I wanted to find time to respond, and do so coherently, to a pair of posts from Glen Dean about the Live Earth concerts and planetary reaction to climate change in general. It would...Posted by joe lance on 10:48 PM
July 2, 2007
Bored on the Fourth of July? Try 7-7-7
Many thousands of couples have chosen this Saturday to marry, ostensibly because they consider the date to be a charm. Call me cynical, but if you're relying on a single day in the Gregorian...Posted by joe lance on 5:41 PM
June 23, 2007
Make Bourbon, Not Auto Fuel
Venerable area environmentalist Denny Haldeman has written a lengthy but very readable column regarding the misguided emphasis our local, state and national leaders (and in this instance I use the term loosely) are placing...Posted by joe lance on 2:43 PM