The Flypaper Theory

Steve Cohen's Occupy Memphis

2011-10-19T20:23:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure what all of today's Occupy drama was about. Ratings, maybe?

Loaded

2011-10-12T14:53:00.002-05:00

Submitted without snark: Tennessee State Representative Curry Todd goes to jail for DUI and carrying a loaded firearm while intoxicated. Todd is responsible for legislation allowing licensed gin carriers to take their weapons into bars.

Don't get excited this is only a test

2011-10-10T22:38:00.000-05:00

Wow. Blogger got fancy while I was gone. Maybe it's time to Theorize again.

The Doctor is In... Arlington

2009-12-07T14:07:00.000-06:00

via Bartcop

Shallow musings

2009-11-11T20:25:00.002-06:00

We haven't seen the last of Lou Dobbs.

I know it's not Memorial Day, still...

2009-11-11T10:00:00.001-06:00

I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

The new face of dangerous ignorance: Just look at him for a while

2009-11-09T20:59:00.002-06:00

Feel Good Friday: Prisencolinen Sinainciusol Edition

2009-10-30T20:26:00.002-05:00

Don't ask me what this is, your guess is as good as mine.

A Moment of Zen

2009-10-29T18:56:00.001-05:00

No major incidents reported overnight in West Tennessee, according to local officials.

[Jackson Sun]

Thank God.

Media beginning to see the insurance forest

2009-10-25T13:30:00.003-05:00

Finally we're beginning to see at least some reporting about the insurance industry's anti-trust exemption. This is something you'd have thought we'd have heard more about in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But instead the talking heads kept us all feuding with "he said she said" reporting on things like "wind vs. water" which had nothing to do with what was really happening.

I tried to make a little noise, at least.

Pig Radio R00Lz

2009-10-23T08:28:00.001-05:00

No, I'm not talking about EIB Lying Nazi Pig radio. I'm talking about 96.1, The Pig, Memphis' best new radio station.

This morning on my way to work, I heard Magic Man, Sweet Transvestite, two New Wave songs from the 80s I haven't heard in years, Love Me Tender, and Marvin Gaye singing the National Anthem so beautifully, it made me proud to be an American in ways Lee Greenwood could only dream of. Notice anything strange about this? It's music. On the radio. During the morning drive. Instead of two guys sitting around telling dick jokes and monkey stories. Like beer in bottles, it's Brilliant!

Over the last few days, I've heard rock, reggae, funk, soul, blues, and country, all on the same radio station. Imagine that! I've heard at least a dozen songs I've never heard before. I've heard songs I knew but forgot I knew. I've heard Patsy Cline, I've heard Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother, I've heard You Dropped a Bomb on Me, I've even heard the hilarious reggae Frayser Man.

I hope they make enough money to hang around for a while, because they are a refreshing change to the Memphis airwaves at a time when nothing seems to change and stations seem to play the same 40 songs at the same time in the same order. I only hope they don't change their unpolished, college-radio style. It is truly a delight. I'm actually listening to the radio again, and that is damn near worth notifying the Vatican.

Weird Wingnut Obsessions

2009-10-19T21:44:00.003-05:00

Someone please explain to me why people who own businesses know more than people who don't own businesses?

Does the Vaccine Matter? - The Atlantic (November 2009)#

2009-10-14T10:19:00.001-05:00

Does the Vaccine Matter? - The Atlantic (November 2009)#

Shared via AddThis

Thinking about Afghanistan

2009-10-06T20:52:00.004-05:00

So I just read this piece about how if the US & NATO pull out of Afghanistan, Russia and China will rush in and be unfriendly to American interests.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Russia's chomping at the bit to repeat their inglorious Afghan adventure. And I can't imagine China wanting to push the US & Russians together the way the Russians once pushed the US & China together.

Of course I don't pretend to be an expert on any of this.

Thinking out loud...

2009-10-06T14:00:00.002-05:00

You know, Osama Bin Laden's a prince. I'm no intel guru but I'd bet $18 American that he's not in Afghanistan or Pakistan, but in some cozy little palace in Saudi Arabia.

What Digby said... maybe.

2009-10-05T16:59:00.002-05:00

So there are some interesting and polite healthcare protests going on but nobody in the media is showing up to cover them. I don't think I buy this theory entirely and have to wonder how good the protesters' PR skills are. These sound exactly like the kind of think I'd cover, or if I couldn't, that I'd shop around the office until I found somebody who could. But then again, I work for a locally-owned weekly not some big media giant, and nothing I break* ever gets any attention.

I really can't imagine that no media is interested in telling these stories.

*and before anybody says anything to the contrary, yes, I broke fistbumpgate. Via twitter.

Put People to Work

2009-10-05T09:21:00.001-05:00

That is all.

BEST BLOG POST TITLE EVER

2009-10-04T12:13:00.001-05:00

Ladies & gentlemen, The Death Penalty.

The first, last, and only word on the bullshit commonly called the healthcare debate

2009-10-02T13:24:00.001-05:00

Southern Beale says a mouthful. And I say Amen.

A Moment of Zen

2009-09-30T07:19:00.002-05:00

These liberal dreamers will never find a serious Democrat who's crazy enough to challenge Cooper.

[Jeff Woods]

We need a name for the Nashville equivalent of the Beltway Village.

Jim Cooper Should be Primaried

2009-09-29T18:56:00.004-05:00

I'm not talking down to the Nashville Blogosphere. It is with great respect that I ask them to unbunch their panties, take a deep breath, and try to understand that the South is far out of step with the rest of the country and until we figure out what to do about that we'll get a bit of the short bus treatment. Let's face it, here in the Volunteer State we've had Democrats carrying water for the Birthers. There is every reason for the big boys & girls who live elsewhere to believe there's something in the water that makes us slow and damn proud of it.

Getting offended isn't helpful to anybody.

I welcome any and all pressure placed on the Blue Dogs. And I welcome criticism... because it helps us grow. So take your shot.

A Heathen Looks at Religion

2009-09-23T08:20:00.002-05:00

Great religious leaders lead by example. When Peter cut off the ear of the soldier that came for Christ, Jesus turned around and restored it. Humanity fails Christ when they follow the example of Peter.

The same is true with the Dalai Lama. And although ears were assaulted with bad unoriginal punning none were severed in the greeting of his holiness.

Laugh at clowns throw money changers from the temple.

Kicking a Clown is Bad Karma. Unless it's an Evil Clown and You're Fighting Him with Kung Fu in the Clouds

2009-09-23T00:11:00.003-05:00

I find myself in the very surprising position of defending Myron Lowery. He pulled a clown move today but people are acting like he ate a baby. There is photographic proof that the Dalai Lama gets and gives fist bumps with some regularity. And news to the detractors: this was so minor that Myron looks good compared to the overblown negativity. The Dalai Lama's graciousness shames us all.

The last time I was serious about religion it was Eastern religion. And when the DL returned the DAP with a vigorous fist bump of his own and hearty laughter I saw a blessing. I will not shame his holiness by taking offense from affection, no matter how misguided.

A song about the original Teabaggers: Not by PPM, but dedicated to Mary Travers RIP

2009-09-17T10:02:00.003-05:00

YO PESKY, I'M GONNA LET YOU FINISH, BUT I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS BOB DYLAN IS THE GREATEST FOLK SINGER OF ALL TIME.

"We'll need lots of tools & cranks."

UPDATE: I don't know who the hell let Kanye in the house but he should learn some music history. Bob Dylan is greatest folk singer of all time because Peter Paul & Mary popularized his music and helped to make a quirky funny-sounding singer songwriter palatable to American music consumers.

lol

2009-09-16T09:22:00.000-05:00

The Patriot Actor

2009-09-15T20:58:00.004-05:00

I've never been one to expect a complete return on promises. And, as a realist, I understand that some things can take time to initiate and longer to reverse. So I'm patient. But I'm really not happy about this.

Memory of a Free Teabagging

2009-09-14T21:44:00.002-05:00

With so many bloggers & journalists parsing the meaning of the 9/12 Tea Party in D.C. I thought I'd re-post the mini-doc I made from my visit to the Audubon Park Tea Party earlier this year.

This video and its accompanying column (scroll down) attracted vitriolic responses from the Wingers and lots of tut-tutting from the very serious moderates who were certain I was exaggerating everything.

These days even Beltway blatherers like MoDo are smelling the coffee.

Perhaps the First Edition of WTF Did Digby Say?

2009-09-11T15:37:00.000-05:00

There is a long history of saying "What Digby Said" and providing a link.

But today, for the first time I can remember, I'm saying WTF Did Digby Say? and providing a link.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/lines-by-digby-i-have-never-been.html

"I have never been particularly sanguine that congressional Democrats would ultimately vote against Obama on health care if it didn't contain a public option and I'm not even sure how many people in the progressive coalition would want them to."

Even Digby should know that this position is the Max Baucus position. That the inventor of the term political kabuki is now participating in the kabuki and approving of it, speaks directly to the overwhelming allure of insiderdom. This is a sad day.

Just when I thought Glenn Beck couldn't get any crazier...

2009-09-10T23:49:00.001-05:00

The Golden Teabag goes to.... Rep. JOE WILSON!

2009-09-09T20:42:00.004-05:00

Rep. Joe Wilson--the guy who just called the President a liar during his healthcare speech--is the same dude who called Rep. Bob Filner, "viscerally anti-American" with a deep seeded "hatred of America" when Filner suggested the United States supplied chemical and biological weapons to Iraq.

Which, of course, we did.

UPDATE: Is it a surprise that Joe has ties to the insurance industry? Or that he has a history of shooting off his mouth?

One more chance to fix the housing bubble

2009-09-09T10:26:00.001-05:00

Cramdown's coming back around.

Where do they come from?

2009-09-08T18:35:00.001-05:00

It's always amusing to hear the old Bushies criticizing Obama's public speaking style.

Deep Thought

2009-09-08T18:08:00.000-05:00

Most days I see the glass as being half crazy.

The soft bigotry of my fellow bloggers

2009-09-08T08:23:00.004-05:00

I finally listened to the great Thad/Mongo interview and don't see what Auto & Bob at 55/40 are drooling over. I heard no viable specifics for fixing anything. What I heard was a lot of classic outsider populism peppered with typically nutty Mongoisms about space and spirits and giving everybody an uzi. It was like eavesdropping on a weird but earnest bar conversation about Memphis' politics & policies between two people who get all their information from emails beginning Fw: fw: fw.

Call me a cockeyed optimist, but my expectations could never slip so low as to be moved by malarkey about "The neck bone of the Chicken."

Have our recent leaders inspired such a potent combination of rational and irrational ire that the man most closely associated with underage drinking and public nuisance in Memphis seems like an eccentric voice of reason?

The man's entire life is wrapped up in shells and shelters. Everything about him is false. He's got no understanding of how a city is run and had no idea what a PILOT was.

It's one thing to appreciate our eccentrics for their eccentricities. It's quite another to slip into the alternative universes where they live.

Serious Business

2009-09-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

Thaddeus Matthews and Prince Mongo are having a serious and intelligent discussion about the problems facing Memphis.

Link

The Destroyer

2009-08-31T09:57:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I listened to The Ben Ferguson Show while driving to the Ostrander Awards. I hadn't tuned in in a while and was wondering what points young Ben was missing these days. What I heard could have been a Colbert skit.

Ben opened his show with a rant about how Obama had out-Nixoned Nixon to become America's most paranoid president. This was all a lead in for Ferguson to worry aloud that he and other outspoken Conservatives and critics of the administration would be audited by the IRS this year as punishment for their bold opposition.

Racist Black Crypto-Muslim Nazi Communist from Kenya Who Wants to Euthanize Your Grandmother

2009-08-29T13:10:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to say it out loud, all at once, to hear what it sounded like.

Fire at the Knightway Apartments (lots of images)

2009-08-27T22:08:00.008-05:00

So I was driving down Knight Arnold this afternoon and I saw this fire truck race past me, and as I turned to see where it was going, I could see a small plume of smoke. It looked like it was fairly closeby, so I experienced a brief voyeuristic thrill as I wondered if I would pass by it on my way to where I was going.

When I got to the Knightway Apartments, just before Knight Road, it became apparent that there was a massive apartment fire underway. From Knight Arnold, I could see multiple units on fire. Realizing that I could get a perfect vantage point from behind Knight Road Elementary, I headed back there and started taking pictures.

The photo above shows three buildings, let's call them A, B, and C, and there is a fourth out of the shot on the right, which I shall call D. When I took this picture, the fire was already raging in building B, but thick smoke was also coming from buildings C and D. It was clear when I approached that all three fires had started at roughly the same time. As you can see, there is about a hundred feet between the buildings. Buildings C and D were also burning from the inside, making it highly unlikely that the fire had spread from building B.

This is building B, going up in flames. By this point, the fire trucks had not yet made it to the rear of the apartment complex.

Buildings B and C. You can see how much space is between the buildings because the small red rectangle in between them is the first fire truck to make it to the back. Licks of flame are beginning to emerge from building C.

Here are buildings C and D. Most of the smoke you see is coming from building D, but the fire is already starting to spread to the building behind it.

Back to building B. By this point, the inside is an inferno. I could feel waves of heat coming from the fire.

Building B is completely engulfed. This picture was taken about a minute after the last one. While these buildings have a brick exterior, the framing is all wood. It takes almost no time for the fire to overtake the interior. If anyone had been inside, there would have been no hope but to jump out the window. Fortunately, the apartments have been vacant for over a year.

Reinforcements arrive, and at last the firefighters can begin working to put out the blaze in earnest. Coming from the street as they did, it only took them a couple of minutes to get to the back and set up, but it felt like a lot longer as I stood by and watched the fire make its claim on the property.

I could hear the firemen calling out commands to each other, and I could hear the stress in their voices. At this point, they have no idea how big this thing is going to get. The air was alive with sirens coming from all directions.

Meanwhile, back by building D, a third team has started working out how they're going to deal with the rapidly escalating situation there.

If I had to make a guess, I'd say that this guy's job was to determine the cause of the fire. Whatever the case, he seemed to be in charge, as he walked from one team to the other with, as you can see, a rather grim expression on his face.

Building D and the one immediately behind it are ablaze.

Not long after this, the batteries on my camera died, so I walked back to my car to get some fresh ones. It seemed like I'd seen enough of the back, so I went around to Knight Arnold to see what the situation looked like from there.

The smoke up front was thick enough to block out the sun.

Dozens of firefighters, and I counted ten trucks.

As the fire spread to the front of the complex, smoke began to fill Knight Arnold Road.

Several crews watched on, either just coming back from the mess or waiting for their turn to go deal with it.

While the crews in the back were finishing up, those in the front were just getting started.

Then, with a great fanfare of alarms and horns and lights, this thing showed up. If the water in the ground isn't enough for the job, this is clearly a serious fire.

Finally, after much labor and effort, white steam replaced thick sooty smoke, and the fire came under control.

I left at this point, and went to where I was heading before I stumbled on a raging apartment fire. I came back about an hour later to see how things had progressed.

Building D was a wreck.

Likewise for building C.

Crews were still working to put out what remained of the fire, but it was well contained.

In the middle of all of this, I ran into Les Smith of Eyewitness News and consented to an interview. I told him the same thing I'm telling you: three buildings with more than a hundred feet between them caught fire at the same time. Abandoned apartment buildings, though they may be tinderboxes, don't just spontaneously combust like that. I believe these fires were deliberately set, an estimation I corroborated with a Memphis Fire Department official on the scene.

Only an investigation can determine the true cause of the fire, but it would not surprise me in the least to learn that someone just tossed a molotov into each building in sequence. Not only does it look like arson, it looks like whoever did it made a very sloppy job of it. If indeed it was arson, someone needs to go to jail over it. The city likely spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to put out this fire today, not to mention the risk to life and limb.

In any event, it was certainly an unexpected punctuation to my otherwise very dull day.

A message from Whitey

2009-08-26T22:59:00.001-05:00

Oh good Lord, I'm starting to feel sorry for them.

Because Mick Wright needs even more things to write angry screeds about I submit for your approval...

2009-08-26T22:05:00.005-05:00

This.

h/t Señor Cwabs

Of All People, He Ought to Know

2009-08-26T18:18:00.002-05:00

Obama is no socialist:

Obama was born, educated, went into politics and managed to be successful within the United States’ imperial capitalist system. He neither wished nor could change the system. Curiously enough, despite that, the extreme right hates him for being an Afro-American and opposes anything the President does to improve that country’s deteriorated image.

[Fidel Castro]

The Dream Will Never Die

2009-08-26T03:03:00.002-05:00

RIP Ted Kennedy 1932 - 2009

Regarding the passing of the most consistent and forceful advocate for universal health care to ever hold a seat in the United States Senate, I can only say that if the Democrats in the 111th Congress don't pass a health care reform bill with a robust public option, they all deserve to go straight to Hell.

Goodbye, Teddy. We will never, never forget you.

Unscientific Survey

2009-08-25T20:05:00.003-05:00

What's really up with Jim Cooper?

Posted Without Comment

2009-08-22T14:01:00.001-05:00

Watch the whole thing for surprise political commentary...

Heads Up

2009-08-22T13:22:00.005-05:00

Before leaving Downtown for East Memphis, Downtown Neighborhood Association president Tommy Volinchak told the Flyer's John Branston he'd been considering politics and was a registered Democrat.

If you haven't already, please take note of Tommy the Terrible's racist, furiously intolerant, and rabidly anti-liberal comments here and file them away in case he ever actually decides to run for office, especially as a Democrat.

And all this time I thought it was the LEFT that was supposed to be so angry.

What a jerkwad.

UPDATE: In another thread Tommy says President Obama is going to force us all to visit "witch doctors."

A Moment of Zen

2009-08-22T10:46:00.001-05:00

from Kristen Atkinson <[REDACTED]>
to ken@wonkette.com
cc jim@wonkette.com
date Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 3:26 AM
subject my story

Dear Wonkette editors,

I posted a very serious article recently in Townhall.com about witchcraft in the White House, and later realized that your website had made a farce out of it. I saw that your staff and readers made a lot of extremely cruel comments about me and my story. Why are you people so rude? Does anybody take anything seriously anymore?

Do you really, truly, seriously think it is OK for a president to use a forged birth certificate? Do you actually believe it is appropriate for a man who was raised a Muslim to pretend he is a Christian and go to a church for 20 years with an anti-American preacher? Do you really want a president who was brainwashed by communists since he was a child, up through university, to hate America to be our president? Do you think that it is fine if a family member of the president defiles the White House with voodoo? Don’t you know what fate could befall our nation as a result of allowing Satanic forces to gather over the White House?

After 8 years of a president sent by God to lead the American people and rescue us from the horrors of 911 and Islamo-fascists, it now boils down to this? How incredibly tragic. You folks don’t really seem to understand the extreme peril that our nation confronts. Stop making fun of me. Take off your blinders! Wake up!

Respectfully, Kristen

[Wonkette]

The Difference Between Democrats and Republicans

2009-08-21T13:27:00.003-05:00

Democrats:

Republicans:

Although not in the habit of kissing men I would so smooch Barney Frank right now

2009-08-19T11:29:00.001-05:00

That is all...

The Prince of Darkness, Dead?

2009-08-18T14:59:00.002-05:00

Who knew it was even possible? But apparently it is. Robert Novak RIP. Or something like that.

Why Isn't Steve Cohen on this List

2009-08-18T09:55:00.001-05:00

65 House members who have pledged to oppose any health care reform that doesn't include a public option. Where's Steve? Does anybody know?

http://www.actblue.com/page/theytookthepledge

This Is Why People Think He's Lost His Mind

2009-08-17T05:34:00.003-05:00

Sources in Herenton's inner circle now say some of what the public has witnessed since Herenton's retirement July 30th is a behind-the-scenes power triangle between Herenton, his old foe, Attorney Richard Fields, and emerging foe, Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery.

They say the power triangle involves three big deals moving through City Hall.

"I'm being told that there is a movement afoot on the part of this mayor pro tem and his CAO (Jack Sammons) to consummate agreements that may not be in the best interest of the City of Memphis," Herenton said in an explosive interview with Action News 5's Joe Birch Friday.

People close to Herenton and others inside City Hall say the three city deals not only compelled the former mayor to run for his old seat, but also compelled Herenton to refuse City Attorney Elbert Jefferson's request to resign last month in order to keep his appointee inside City Hall.

[Kontji Anthony]

Can someone please explain to me how running for mayor in October has any impact on events that occur during Myron Lowery's term of office in August and September? Anyone?

I read the reports about Lowery's open house, but I don't remember reading anything about there being a time machine in City Hall. What's Herenton going to do if he wins? He can't undo the deals. This makes no sense.

Also, if he knew back in June that this was going to be an issue, enough so that he refused Elbert Jefferson's resignation, why did he even quit in the first place? Why not see the three deals through and resign in the fall when the ink is dry?

This is the best explanation we've heard yet for Herenton's erratic behavior, and it makes even less sense than when he simply said he'd changed his mind.

We can all believe that the Doc is arrogant enough that he doesn't have a problem with a $1 million flip-flop, but don't ask us to believe in freaking time machines, folks. That's downright insulting. Memphis politics isn't that strange.

The Letter

2009-08-17T04:36:00.004-05:00

Do I have to do everything around here? I quit blogging long enough to get my affairs in order and the whole damn place falls apart. What's wrong with you people? Let's get back to work!

Here is Richard Fields' letter to Dr. Herenton: LINK

Needless to say, I didn't write it. I make absolutely no claim for the accuracy of what is written in that letter. Everything in it could very well be false, but at this point, that takes nothing away from its newsworthiness. I am posting it here as an exercise of my free speech right to provide accurate and disinterested reporting on a matter of public controversy concerning a public figure. I believe I am well within my rights.

HOWEVER...

If there is anyone who feels like they've been personally wronged by the posting of Mr. Fields' letter, then I await your attorney's demand letter. I'm no lawyer, but I really don't think you have much of a case.

UPDATE: As if on cue, this just became even more newsworthy.

Fucktard of the week:

2009-08-14T09:24:00.010-05:00

A sophomoric non-newsworthy poll to confound the local arbiters of proper behavior for professional journalists who are supposed to strike an absurd pose and pretend to exist outside the world they write about. The journalists, that is, not the arbiters who, being quasi-journalists themselves, are biased as a motherfucker.

So who is this week's biggest fucktard? Is it

A. The rotting corpse of Gandhi? True, he was once a great leader espousing a policy of nonviolence. But what has he done for us lately?

B. Mom. Oh sure, she changed your diapers and tended to you when you were sick. But let's face it, you could have done without all that guilt she stuffed you with like a Thanksgiving Turkey.

C. Former Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton who, after resigning and sticking the city with the bill for a $1-million special election, decided he might want to keep on being mayor after all.

Journalists: We report about a world we are coolly disassociated from you decide! Vote early and often.

Multitaskers

2009-08-08T20:07:00.000-05:00

I don't know how these people comment with a mouth full of balls.

Peeple R Stoopid

2009-07-13T11:08:00.005-05:00

Here is the amazing story of Charlie Brown and the German pilot who decided not to shoot him down.

I know, I know, if it had been Snoopy, the Red Baron would have blown him out of the sky. Feel free to make your own jokes.

That' s not why I'm posting this. I'm posting this because I received this story in an email. At the bottom of the email I found this inspirational observation.

THIS WAS BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS HONOR IN BEING A WARRIOR...THEY PROUDLY WORE UNIFORMS, AND THEY DIDN'T HIDE IN AMBUSH INSIDE A MOSQUE, OR BEHIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN, NOR DID THEY USE MENTALLY RETARDED WOMEN AS SUICIDE BOMBERS TO TARGET AND KILL INNOCENT CIVILIANS...HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

No, all they did was wear their uniforms while murdering 6 million Jews. All they did was plunge the world into a war in which 50-70 million people died. Lest we forget...

Ah, those were the days.

Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!

2009-07-06T10:14:00.003-05:00

The Memphis mayor's race is still new but the stupid already burns.

Yes, I know, as infrequently as this site is updated these days it makes no sense to create a post with so little news content or analysis. But I really needed to scream in public. And I feel much, much better.

Well, Well, Looks Like I Was Wrong

2009-06-17T17:54:00.003-05:00

I wasn't wrong that Aravosis' argument was full of shit, that's for damn sure. But I was demonstrably wrong in thinking that all of this agitating would have no positive effect.

P.R. exec Hillary Rosen, plugged in on gay rights issues, told me just now that President Obama will use tonight's presidential memorandum extending federal benefits to reassert his broader support for gay rights, repeating his support for repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and pushing Congress to back legislation offering more substantial benefits, like health care, to same-sex partners.

"They're demonstrating that they're going on the benefits side as far as they can administratively and laying a path for congress to follow. The things that they're announcing will actually help people," she said. "He's saying these families matter."

[Ben Smith]

If I may be allowed to indulge in a bit of dick-headed "I told you so," I would pose the question: Do you still think that Obama sees your homosexual relationship as being equivalent to incest and pederasty? Or rather, is he actually a sincere advocate of gay rights who takes his GLBT supporters seriously?

Or, do you think that he's still wishy-washy, and he only supports gay rights when it is expedient? Difficulty: Wishy-washy doesn't square with all of the fireball rhetoric that's been flying around. He either hates your gay guts or he doesn't.

Leave Adam Kleinheider ALOOOOOOOONE!

2009-06-17T13:36:00.004-05:00

Seriously folks. I know I spanked him a bit in comments yesterday for wankery above and beyond the call of duty (I ain't linking-if you don't know about this already you probably don't care). But at the end of the day Post Politics' Adam Kleinheider is one of the goodish guys.

Yes, he's a Conservative. And yes my lefty friends the Conservatives have a pretty bad reputation these days. But ACK's not like that. So a little bias trickled in--- SO WHAT? Show me a blog where it doesn't.

This ain't about FOX news y'all. It's about a damn good blogger who links to most everything and most everybody. If I had a drink I'd toast him right now. I'd tell him he blew it this time, but I'd toast him all the same.

Wanking to the right of me, wanking to the left of me, wankers behind me... something about thunder

2009-06-16T17:21:00.001-05:00

That is all.

John Aravosis and His Incendiary Bullshit

2009-06-15T20:38:00.004-05:00

Pretend for a moment that I'm your attorney and I'm making an appeal on your behalf.

If I cite Plessy vs Ferguson in your appeal, would you automatically assume that I am calling you (or the opposing litigant) a segregationist? A racist?

All right, how about something more likely to actually happen to you in court. I'm filing a friend of the court brief in your defense and I cite Miranda vs Arizona as part of my argument. Does that mean I think you're a criminal? Guilty as charged, but you get off on a technicality?

We can even get medieval about this. If I go aaaaaaaaaaaall the way back to Dred Scott vs Sandford in my argument, does that mean I think that you are three fifths of a person, unworthy of full citizenship?

If you answered "no" to those hypothetical propositions, then you have absolutely no business buying in to John Aravosis' dishonest and incendiary bullshit ravings about the recent motion to dismiss filed by the Obama Justice Department in a case concerning the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Aravosis wants you to believe that the Department of Justice cited a previous legal precedent establishing that one state's right to allow first cousins to marry doesn't obligate every other state to honor those marriages, all because Obama thinks homosexuality is equivalent to incest. For someone who claims to be a lawyer, he has a very thin grasp of federalism. Either that, or he's being deliberately inflammatory.

Smarter people than me (who also happen to hold licenses to practice law) have already written at length about the obligation of the executive branch to uphold the laws passed by Congress, just like we learned in high school civics class. I'm not going to even try to repeat what they've said, because they have said it in far greater detail and with more precision than I ever could.

I will say this much, however. Their arguments have so far been unpersuasive to those members of the GLBT community who are presently agitating about this particular legal brief, and that anger, on the surface, seems to be based entirely on one howler of an argument so shamefully flawed it should embarrass anyone who pauses to actually read and examine the context of what was said, much less a first-year law student. There is clearly something more going on here, something unconnected to this particular motion to dismiss.

You can't reason your way out of an argument that wasn't arrived at by reason. No one can prove that the sense of betrayal, felt by those GLBTs who are presently experiencing it because of this brief, is invalid. No one can tell you that your emotions are wrong.

But if you happen to be one of those GLBTs for whom Barack Obama's unprecedented support of your basic rights still isn't good enough or fast enough, you owe it to yourself and to your compatriots to take a brief review of the Civil Rights Movement, that period of 20th century American history with which you are all, without a single exception, so quick to identify yourselves. If you want to make that kind of comparison, you need to understand what you are saying about yourself.

The first Civil Rights Act was passed in 1875. It was declared unconstitutional a mere eight years later. It wasn't until 1963, almost a hundred years after that first step, after rallies, marches, speeches, countless court cases, amendments to the Constitution, and of course, Dr. King's famous speech, that President Kennedy began making the public moves necessary to have these fundamental rights codified into law. That was a full three years after Kennedy was elected president. Barack Obama has been in the White House for five months, and even now, in 2009, we still have crap like this circulating in the halls of government.

The point that I am making here is that change comes slowly enough as it is, but what's more, our American system of government was designed to make sure that no fundamental changes to it could be materialized in short order. This is exactly the way it should be. If it weren't, these moves toward progress could be undone just as quickly as they were attained.

During the time between the Emancipation Proclamation and the final and full realization of equal rights for blacks and other non-white minorities, the people who made a lasting difference, the people we remember as heroes, were not the ones who used dishonest and inflammatory rhetoric to make their case. They were not the ones who made enemies out of those best poised to help their cause. The luminaries of the Civil Rights Movement were just those activists who successfully blended idealism with pragmatism, sincerity with formality, and patience with perseverance.

There will be gay marriage in America. There will be an openly gay American president. If I get my way, we will see it in my lifetime. But neither of those absolutely certain mileposts in history will be brought any closer to fruition by overheated emotion aimed at demonizing the first president in history to acknowledge gay rights.

In short, John Aravosis isn't doing anyone any favors.

Olive Branch Storm Blogging

2009-06-13T21:54:00.006-05:00

My camera battery died before I got any pictures, but let me say that I was incorrect in my previous post, when I said I didn't think there had been a tornado in Olive Branch. There most definitely was.

It appears to have touched down somewhere north of Olive Branch City Park, where it hit a duplex development (1) pretty hard. I saw roofs blown off and windows shattered, and a woman I talked to who was working a roadside fruit stand in the city library parking lot said one house there was completely destroyed. It then took part of the roof of a city building (2), not sure which, before passing just over the driver's license station. I saw a couch in a drainage ditch beside the road (3). It then crossed the road into the southern end of old town Olive Branch, where it smashed (4) and uprooted numerous trees (5).

Now it gets strange because either the tornado reversed direction, or there was a second tornado, because there appears to be an entirely different storm track south of the first one, as shown on this map. Google maps is not up to date, as the duplex development and the city building aren't on this map.

I spoke to my former real estate agent today, and she said that there was a tractor trailer turned over by the tornado on 78 near the weigh station (6). Further east, there is a BBQ restaurant (7) whose brick walls were damaged, while the traffic lights were stripped from the lines, and there are several snapped power poles, at the corner of Cockrum and Sandidge. Beyond that, the roof was damaged on a church (8), and behind the church a house that looks like it was hit by Thor swinging a 4 iron, as there is an enormous divet right through the middle of the house.

On a personal level, this house is two houses north of a house we almost bought two years ago. We loved that house and really wanted it, but we couldn't sell our own house. From the road it looked like all the trees had been blown down in the backyard, so now I'm rather glad it didn't work out.

UPDATE: I think I've got it figured out now. If you look on the map between city park and the weigh station, there appears to be a trailer park. The tornado took two shots at that trailer park and missed both times. The residents are probably breathing a big sigh of relief right about now.

Memphis Storm Blogging

2009-06-12T22:28:00.003-05:00

Most of Olive Branch is dark. There are a few small areas that still have power. Early this evening we heard a report of a tornado in Olive Branch. We saw snapped telephone poles and powerlines down on Cochrum (Riverdale) north and south of 78, and on Hacks Cross south of 78, but nothing I saw indicated a tornado. The damage is too widespread, and too limited to trees and telephone polls, while houses and mobile homes seem to be unharmed. My wife saw pink insulation in a field off Hacks Cross, so somebody's house got hit pretty hard, but I'm guessing straight line winds.

Two hotels in OB have power, and we were able to get into one of them. I'm blogging from there. I was caught in the storm on Park between Estate and White Station. One of those storms where you literally can't see the front of your car, there's so much rain, plus all the leaves and tree limbs. My car was almost hit by a piece of flying sheet metal torn off something. I haven't seen the news, so I have no idea what it's like in Memphis right now. I don't think it's as bad as Hurricane Elvis, because everything north of the state line seems to have power. My guess is power won't be restored in Olive Branch for at least a day, maybe longer.

Test Case

2009-06-12T10:46:00.004-05:00

Yep, it’s me again, ol’ Kib.

Here’s a thought that struck me hard between the eyes this morning regarding the state’s new guns-in-bars law: Most rhetoric and analysis and political fustian has, on both sides, been pre-fabricated and predictable. Opponents of the bill had talked up the danger element; proponents had treated the matter as one of self-defense (if-guns-are-outlawed,-only-outlaws-will-have-guns, etc.)

It occurred to me that the recent Chris Jones trial in Memphis offered a perfect test case of the two rival theses. Actually, an amalgamation of them. In his defense, Jones – then a sheriff’s deputy nursing private grievances by quaffing a few rounds off-duty – testified that in the midst of a sudden barroom quarrel that turned physical he presumed himself to be in mortal danger and, only from motives of self-protection, fired at two individuals, killing one and wounding the other.

Let’s take Jones’ defense at face value: Had he not been packing, what might have happened instead? Who knows? Maybe he’d have roughed up somebody or been roughed up himself. Maybe seriously in either case. He would not, however, have been on the receiving end of a second-degree murder conviction – given him by a jury that did not believe his account of events.

But again, let’s assume his account was God’s truth. He thought he was in danger and fired, killing someone. That someone, a karaoke D.J., possessed no weapon and was, according to the overwhelming weight of testimony from witnesses, merely trying to break up the sudden fracas.

But, again, let’s assume that Jones’ account was on the level and the D.J. himself was part of a mob intent on doing him serious harm. Even taking that as gospel (and the jury didn’t), where there might have been the possibility of mortal danger, the certainty of it emerged only with the firing of Jones’ weapon.

Make of that what you will. I’m just sayin’….

Obama say what?

2009-06-12T09:59:00.002-05:00

I still have quite a bit of faith in the President. The man has a lot on his plate and I don't mind that he's not making all of my pet issues priority one. I can also respect certain frustrating changes in direction as he negotiates political and economic minefields. And frankly, I worry that any major federal push to insure things like gay equality will bring the right wing terrorists out in droves. But that's a cowardly excuse for not doing the right thing. And Obama does seem to be throwing gay Americans under the bus.

He's better than what we've had for a long time. But Barry-O needs to listen a little less to Rahm and a little more to his own campaign speeches. The guy who made those was awesome.

Lou Dobbs: Won't do covers

2009-06-10T15:08:00.002-05:00

Lou Dobbs says he won't repeat James von Brunn's "Hate speech." Guess Lou only does original material.

HEADLINE FIXED.

Memphis' Most Popular Blog?

2009-06-09T19:51:00.005-05:00

If the number of comments and Google followers is any indication, RiPPa holds the distinction of running Memphis' most popular blog, and while he's been churning away with quality content for over a year now, I still haven't seen anyone local link to him.

Regardless of whether or not my guess about his traffic versus everyone else's is correct, I think the folks who manage the Memphis Flyer's Blogs We Like blogroll ought to take a look.

Feel Good Whatever the Hell Day It Is: Autotune Edition

2009-06-08T19:52:00.004-05:00

I've long believed that the tradition of "Feel Good Friday" is nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse for bloggers to share great music with their readers, and in the spirit of that tradition, I'm declaring today an Official Friday for the Purposes of Blogging.

Meet Auto-tune the News. An auto-tuner is an electronic device that makes shitty musicians sound good, or at least, it helps keep them from singing off-key. When you use one on people who aren't actually trying to make music, however...

Fuck it, I'll let you be the judge of what exactly this is. Personally, I think it's the Best Thing to Come Along in the Last Five Minutes.

And for those of you who made it this far, here's a special bonus: MLK sings.

Forgive my language, but that was fucking badass.

You Were Scared and You Had No Idea

2009-06-08T11:15:00.006-05:00

Seeing that Commercial Appeal columnist Wendi Thomas is now collaborating with my pal Leftwing Cracker on building a list of restaurants that serve alcohol where guns are not allowed, I've decided to lend them both a hand.

It's going to take a lot of phone calls to put together this list, not to mention all the work that goes into indexing and publishing the data. Since they've got so much work cut out for them, let's do this by process of elimination, shall we?

You can go ahead and strike off the list every bar in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. That's because it's always been legal to carry a weapon into a bar in those states.

You see, that's what really changed my mind about this issue. When I first heard that the General Assembly was considering lifting the ban on guns in bars, like practically everyone else, I thought, "Mixing guns and alcohol!? Are they drunk?"

However, the sobering reality is that the last time you went to a casino in Tunica, it would have been a safe bet that someone in the place was armed. You can drink mint juleps to your heart's content at the Kentucky Derby, or you can take a weapon instead. (If you've ever taken a hard look at some of the people who frequent that thing, it's probably not a bad idea.) The last time you went to one of those happening blues shows in Jackson or Oxford, anyone could have walked right through the door with a pistol in hand, and while it might have put a few people on edge, it would have been perfectly legal. What's more, it has always been this way, and in all these years neither I nor anyone else ever noticed a difference.

Maybe, just maybe, if bar patrons in thirty-seven other states are able to resist the urge to get loaded and proceed to go on drunken Wild West-style shooting sprees, the people of Tennessee can, too. Call me crazy, but I have this idea that the people of this state are not fundamentally any different from the people in bordering states, and among our neighbors, only North Carolina prohibits weapons in bars.

Think about that for a minute. If the notion of enjoying a cocktail while sharing space with armed people scares you, get a load of this: if you ever got drunk in Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri or Virginia, the people there were already packing heat and you didn't even know it!

Are you shitting your pants yet? No? Well, why not?

Why the long face

2009-06-04T16:06:00.001-05:00

Bill Hobbs is out as TNGOP's communications director.

Deep sickness

2009-05-31T10:19:00.002-05:00

Pentagon denies that any of this is true. They would.

Speaking of white dudes with problems...

2009-05-30T03:04:00.001-05:00

It's hard to be white in America... I guess

2009-05-29T11:54:00.001-05:00

Dear Lord, please deliver us from Bill O'...

21st Century Statecraft

2009-05-29T11:47:00.001-05:00

Talk Radio

2009-05-28T22:37:00.003-05:00

As somebody who loves fiction set in artificial and alternative realities it's kind of awesome to listen to the radio talkers going on and on about the racist blacks and Hispanics in government. It's like living in a Bizarro 60's.

A Question for Our Host

2009-05-27T15:34:00.000-05:00

WTF is this?

Body of Evidence

2009-05-20T10:57:00.000-05:00

Jesse the Body talks torture... awesomely.

Our First Science Fiction Movie!!!

2009-05-18T16:44:00.002-05:00

If you liked The Robbers, Josie & Lucy's pirate movie, then you'll love THREE AGAINST THE SKY! their first space opera. It's the feelgood smash of the summer and much, much better than Star Trek.

I've already been fussed at by media-savvy Lucy for not hyping the big KIS redesign project: "Daddy you have to tell your weeders to come see it." So now I've done that.

Smith Resigns as head of the TN GOP

2009-05-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

Discuss.

Robber Barons

2009-05-15T14:35:00.003-05:00

PRIVATIZE IT!

Remember when we were socialistic moonbats for worrying about things like this? Good times.

Flanking on torture

2009-05-14T20:39:00.002-05:00

Unlike most of observers I don't think Obama has ever been trying to close the door on the torture issue. Couldn't it be that he's allowing the inevitable to happen on its own and outside the oval office? If Obama fronted the charge it would have the false but no less troublesome taint of payback politics. Grist for the noise mill.

I could be wrong. Have been before.

Party Sanctioned Name Calling

2009-05-13T11:23:00.002-05:00

If you can't improve your own sorry brand lie about the competition and call them names.

It's embarrassing and pathetic.

And poor Michael Steele. I really do feel sorry for the guy.

Awesomesauce

2009-05-13T10:22:00.002-05:00

A great blogger just scored a column.

Are we sure Harold Ford Jr isn't running for Governor in TN?

2009-05-11T18:49:00.001-05:00

I mean he's SO pro torture and all.

Wingnut Whiplash

2009-05-08T14:40:00.002-05:00

Wait, I thought it was heresy to suggest that any of our troops might be radicalized by America's far right...

Del Castillo

2009-05-07T14:37:00.001-05:00

Del Castillo is playing the Levitt Shell on June 6. I never go to concerts, not even to the shows of our house band, but I am so going to be at this one.

Thought of the Day

2009-05-06T14:36:00.002-05:00

People without empathy are commonly referred to as psychopaths.

Is Joe the Plumber queer*?

2009-05-05T12:09:00.003-05:00

And while I'm asking questions, do people still use the term honky?

* I mean, according to the dictionary.

Feel Good Friday - Problems Into Assets Edition

2009-05-01T18:49:00.003-05:00

It just occurred to me that a pathetically small number of my American friends have heard this. Embedding of the original video is disabled on Youtube, so you'll have to hit this link.

Why should we be pleasin' all the politician heathens
Who would try to change the seasons if they could?
The state of the condition insults my intuitions
And it only makes me crazy and my heart like wood.

Everybody stutters one way or the other
So check out my message to you.
As a matter of fact don't let nothin' hold you back.
If the Scatman can do it brother so can you.
I'm the Scatman.

I hear you all ask 'bout the meaning of scat.
Well I'm the professor and all I can tell you is
While you're still sleepin' the saints are still weepin' cause
Things you call dead haven't yet had the chance to be born.

Schadenfreude Ist Die Schoenste Freude

2009-04-28T20:38:00.001-05:00

So I wonder if Norm Coleman is still going to appeal?

With Democrats Like These, Who Needs Republicans?

2009-04-28T09:36:00.003-05:00

Dear Congressman Childers,

I was very disappointed to learn that you have adopted ridiculous discredited Republican policies by introducing a bill to reduce the Estate Tax, as well as using Republican message strategy by calling it a Death Tax.

The Estate Tax is the primary method by which our democracy tries to put the brakes on the establishment of a permanent aristocracy. That's why the estate tax was created in the first place. Even so, it does a poor job.

Increasing the exclusion and decreasing the rate isn't going to help struggling Mississippi families or small businesses. I strongely urge you to look up the actual number of Mississippi families who are affected by the current estate tax before your opponent in the next election hops on the populist bandwagon and accuses you of fighting for tax cuts for Connecticut billionaires while middle-class Mississippians watch their life savings disappear. Your justification for this bill, as fighting for Mississippians, is dishonest, and most of your constituents will see right through it, just as I have.

I'm very disappointed by this move. I hope you reconsider it. The last thing we need to be doing in this economy is wasting our time and money helping people who don't need our help.

Sincerely,

Epstein's Mother

Blog Pool is Open

2009-04-28T08:28:00.003-05:00

I'm taking bets on when someone in the wingnut media declares that Obama should "do the right thing" and resign over this.

X = TV or radio pundit, major blogger, or columnist
Y= How many hours or days

Reports of My Death Have Been Grossly Exaggerated

2009-04-26T19:37:00.003-05:00

I heard once that you're dead as a writer when you start copying your own work.

Luckily for me, events have conspired to keep this piece strangely relevant, though not for reasons I would like.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that Phil Bredesen is a fucking punk.

Marsha

2009-04-24T14:23:00.000-05:00

Al thinks people are on to the global warming detractors.

If I Had a Paper

2009-04-22T11:37:00.003-05:00

If I were in charge of a struggling mid-market newspaper, such as the Commercial Appeal, just as an example, this is what I'd do and why I'd do it.

First step: I would organize the employees and coordinate with local leaders and lenders to buy the paper from Scripts. In today's economy, they'll take any reasonable offer that gives them the ability to pay down some of their debt. Plus, there's no way you can take the steps needed to rebuild the paper as long as you are under the heel of their blood-from-a-turnip management style.

Second step: I would switch the paper to evening delivery Monday-Friday. Much of the news you receive in your morning Commercial Appeal is already 12-30 hours old. But if the paper were able to cover and directly report local and national events all the way through the afternoon, the information it delivers would be more timely and relevant and would be able to compete with the evening news by offering greater depth of coverage. This full evening edition would only be available to subscribers (see Third Step) - thus providing subscription incentive.

The main problem with the morning paper, as I see it, is that nobody has time to read it in the morning. I know I'm not going to get up an hour early just to read the paper. I don't even get up early enough to eat breakfast. There's a lot more people like me than there are people like my grandfather. An evening edition would appeal to a younger, busier market segment, people who have time to read the paper over their dinner and all through the evening before bed. Plus you're providing income to area youth by reviving the role of the paperboy/girl, and putting a local, neighborhood face on the newspaper.

Third step: I would put out a small-run early edition, say around 12 noon, for exclusive sale through vendors, and put street vendors at the major intersections to sell to people coming home from work, much like the vendors who sell the Sunday paper. As the information in the early edition would still be more relevant at 6 PM than a morning paper, you would likely pick up more OTC and coin box sales.

Fourth step: I would have two big issues: Thursday and Sunday. Thursday edition would have large segments dedicated to entertainment and sports, especially events coming up that weekend, plus most of the weekly ad flyers and coupons, rather than the current Sunday edition, as most people do their shopping on the weekend.

Fifth step: I would drop the Saturday edition altogether. Give my people a weekend day off - on Sunday (see below).

Sixth step: I'd keep the Sunday edition a morning edition, but I would load it with stories of local and regional interest, as well as reprinting and expanding on important stories covered earlier in the week by offering longer, magazine-style stories. I would hire local writers, especially students, to report on their neighborhoods, schools, and community events. Invest in the future of journalism by investing in future journalists.

Seventh step: I would put all my newspaper content online, but provide only some of it free to the casual visitor. I would offer a two-tier subscription for full access to the site - one super cheap for the online version only, and one free to subscribers to the daily print edition. The online edition would offer current and breaking news in print, audio and video formats, plus all the other online ammenities, like reporter and editor blogs, comments, etc.

I have no idea whether this would work, but it is certainly a format I would subscribe to.

Conspiracy Wednesday

2009-04-22T08:22:00.002-05:00

Suicide, or suicided? At this point, it's difficult to say. But I'd lay even odds he was about to go public with something that couldn't be allowed to go public.

"Born to Wank" is a good title...

2009-04-21T13:07:00.000-05:00

In case somebody is looking for a good title.

Feel Good Friday - Fuck the RIAA Edition

2009-04-17T21:07:00.002-05:00

Today's selection is only available by download, and congrats to We7.com for being the only website I can find on Google who managed to present this absolutely brilliant track in a format I can easily share with the readers of this blog:

Lideres Band - Close

No embed available, sorry.

Icky Sucky People

2009-04-17T12:48:00.002-05:00

I've been getting interesting messages and emails since my Tea Party video hit yesterday. Somebody's even been going through my vids giving them one-star ratings, which is fine. But they even short-starred what are obviously home movies of my daughters.

Seriously icky people telling little girls they suck.

A Map of the Death of Memphis

2009-04-16T16:56:00.001-05:00

http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RRdev/hsrmap.pdf

We're gonna be left behind. But so is Nashville, so that makes it ok.

Little Rock or Bust!

Opinionated Bastards

2009-04-16T12:12:00.002-05:00

One feature of the new Memphis Flyer site is the ability to review restaurants and such. Enter your profile and click on Places to start offering your opinion.

You do have opinions, don't you?

This is one of my favorite features of the new site. One thing to pass along to the Powers, pesky - there aren't enough places. I couldn't believe Cozy Corner isn't on the list, couldn't find Interstate on 3rd street, plus many others. On the other hand, there are numerous multiple entries for many of the Starbucks locations, which seems a waste to me. I recommend opening up the database to reader input, allowing us to add places or recemmend others for deletion, as I found one listing that is no longer in business. It's really too big for one employee to keep up to date, and this could become one of the most popular features of the site, but only if it is fully utilized by participants.

Harness the power of the community!