Monday, October 26, 2009
Media Morning Roundup: Sahel Kazemi's Life Insurance, Murfreesborean in Space and More
Posted by Jim Ridley on Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 7:28 AM
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Will the cause of death block Sahel Kazemi's aunt from collecting on her $10,000 group life-insurance policy? ...Just hours after last night's late-night fatality, a second car accident occurs near the same strip of asphalt near Antioch....Why would you pay $1,000 for a copy of Phil Valentine's book you can get online for $13.57? Why, to support the "nonpartisan research organization" Tennessee Center for Policy Research, Rex reports....Bishop David Choby addresses the Franklin congregation whose pastor was removed for "abuse of a professional relationship" with a woman in his flock....
While the state drags its feet on the Voter Confidence Act--hey, it's not like elections are coming up next year or anything--supporters of paper-verified voting machines enlist an expert to rebut the opposition....Barry Wilmore of Murfreesboro will see stars from the space shuttle Atlantis in November....The "burrito-fication" of Nashville continues apace as the Chipotle chain readies its first two stores. Didn't Baja Burrito get there first?
Friday, October 23, 2009
Barry / Politics Crispin Critters 2009
Posted by Bruce Barry on Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 1:46 PM
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At last year's St. Crispin's Day award festivities, honoring highlights and lowlights in local and state politics, I learned three things. At last night's 2009 installment at Flyte (the 
[1] I learned that a mere mention of Vic Lineweaver, Eric Crafton or McNeely Pigott & Fox is good for a collective rueful chuckle, no matter what the joke or context it's wrapped in.
[2] I learned that you can publicly mock Phil Bredesen as an ego-driven political opportunist and generate little in the way of offense or dissent.
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[3] I learned that former Nashville mayor and former Congressman Richard Fulton, who was last night's 2009 Order of St. Crispin honoree, cultivated the kind of principled and courageous resume as a public official that is in short supply these days. St. Crispin's Day MC Ken Whitehouse, who really knows how to take rhetorical command of a room ("you folks in the back--shut the hell up!"), regaled Fulton with an eloquent tribute to his vanguard stance on civil rights back in the day and his gracious exit from the public stage during the 1999 mayoral campagn. (I also learned that Fulton looks terrific with a sword in his hand, and one suspects he knows how to use it.)
*Slight correction: The awards were given in writing sans libation in year 1 (2006), so last night's was the third annual fete, but fourth set of awards.
Politics / Woods Democrats Play the Blame Game: It's More Fun Than Crying
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 8:17 AM
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Hey Democrats, are you still upset by your party's latest loss at the polls? Of course you are. Well, here's a sure-fire to feel better. Let's play the blame game!
In this week's Scene, we interview Democrats and make our own little list of miscreants they'd most like to sentence to the stocks for Ty Cobb's defeat in the House District 62 special election. To summarize:
1. Phil Bredesen devoted great effort to lobbying for an Obama Cabinet spot. But campaigning for Cobb? Not so much.
2. Bill Fletcher made that TV spot telling voters the guy they've known all their lives as a pillar of the community, Pat Marsh, actually is a scofflaw who wants to clone humans.
3. Chip Forrester couldn't get out the vote. (He blames the weather.)
4. Mike Turner couldn't find a candidate capable of speaking in coherent sentences.
There you have it! The list could go on, but the Scene's news hole is only so big. Who do you blame?
Media Morning Roundup
Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, Oct 23, 2009 at 6:48 AM
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Bet you wish you were listening to 104.5 The Zone yesterday when the wife of former Titans General Manager Floyd Reese went ballistic on the subject of Coach Jeff Fisher....An activist investor springs for a $270 million stake in CCA's privatized pokeys....Gay men and straight women now have common ground: Nashville's first all-male strip club....
Who's gonna be No. 1 in education in the Southeast within the next five years? We are, says Bill Frist....Why have vandals defaced a Jefferson Street mural depicting Nashville's Freedom Riders for the third time? That may be less important than the news it'll be repaired and repainted all over again....The nationwide crackdown on the La Familia drug cartel extends to Nashville....Nashville-born civil rights leader Julian Bond remembers the city of 60 years ago while visiting Fisk....
Pretty soon you won't have the Green Hills La Paz to use as a landmark when giving directions....Intern Adam has a dream--to appear on Ellen--and Nashville Cream means to crush it.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Phillips / Politics Blogger Controversy in Memphis Reverberates Across the State
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 7:45 AM
Tuesday was a strange day in the Tennessee blogosphere. In the morning came this tweet
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announcing that Vibinc blogger Steve Ross had been nominated to the Memphis Charter Committee. But by evening, Memphis Council members seemed poised to come to fisticuffs over Ross, and his nomination was withdrawn. By Wednesday, the blogosphere was atwitter (get it?) with outrage.
Bloggers had two bones of contention. First was the colorful inappropriateness of council member Joe Brown's opposition to Steve Ross's nomination. While addressing council member Shea Flinn (who nominated Ross), Brown said, "I'm a real man. I'm a real black man. I hope you are a real white man." The racial and gender aspects of the comment weren't lost on Mike Byrd and Christian Grantham, who both wondered what Brown was getting at.
But most people focused on how Brown seemed convinced that Ross's being a blogger somehow meant he wasn't fit to serve on the committee.
Congress / Politics / Woods Lamar Alexander Is Sean Hannity's Puppet
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 7:40 AM
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Over at ChattahBox, they're making an interesting point about Lamar Alexander's little tirade yesterday in which he warned President Obama is compiling an enemies' list. As we know, Fox News daily regurgitates GOP talking points. But now, it's the other way around, according to ChattahBox. Alexander moved his lips on the Senate floor and the crazy talk of Sean Hannity came out.
This was news to Pith. In a state of disbelief, we went to the Google machine to see if this could be true. Could our beloved Lamar sink so low that he's now merely a stooge of Hannity and Fox News? Sadly, we discovered this transcript from Tuesday's Hannity show in which he interviews Liz Cheney and says all the stuff Alexander was saying the very next day in the Senate. We guess Lamar was watching his TV Tuesday night:
Barry / Media Morning Roundup: Injured Cows and Lazy Grandmas
Posted by Bruce Barry on Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 7:30 AM
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State officials have issued new rules governing when and how cities and counties can participate in exotic financial transactions such as interest rate swaps. In particular, a single firm can no longer serve a municipality as both financial adviser and underwriter--call it the Morgan Keegan rule. ... The head of the largest bank based in Nashville says he's not seeing meaningful signs of a recovery in the local economy. ... In what the hospital's board chair says would be "a damaging blow for health care in the community," a key Memphis medical center considers closing its emergency room. ... Good news on convention center bookings--in Chattanooga.
DNA doesn't lie: Steve McNair is not the father of that Mississippi teenager whose mom was trying to get in on a piece of the action. ... The CBS reporter looking into McNair's death said on the network's morning show today that many questions remain unanswered. ... A budgetary kerfuffle at the Metro parks department. ... Dude exhumed 40 years after the fact. ... Boat cruise rescues injured cow (hardly a big story but love that headline). ... Docs say H1N1 vaccine fears are driven by false information. ... Good news for airport picker uppers: the new waiting area at BNA opens today, so you don't have to play loop-de-loop while waiting for grandma's plane to land. (What's that you say? I should park the car and go inside to fetch grandma? I think not.)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Barry / Politics Should City Departments Help Propagandize for the Music City Center?
Posted by Bruce Barry on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 12:12 PM
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Michael Cass over at the Tennessean's political blog noticed yesterday that the Metro Codes Department used its October E-News for Neighborhoods newsletter to do a little friendly shilling for the proposed convention center. According to Cass's post, Metro Codes Director Terry Cobb thinks the full-page newsletter piece " 'tried to keep it pretty straightforward' about the downtown convention center project rather than advocating for it."
Pretty straightforward? Really? Let's go to the videotape:
All of the studies came to the same conclusion: Nashville has both the need and the demand for a new convention center....
By growing the convention business, Nashville can expand the sales tax revenue from visitors and thus depend less on property taxes from citizens....
A new convention center will...allow Nashville to create approximately 3,600 new jobs and $700 million in additional economic activity.
While some have raised concerns about financing, Mayor Karl Dean has assured the community that funding will be from non-property tax sources....
All of the revenue sources are derived from existing or new visitor spending.
Congress / Politics / Woods Lamar Comes Unhinged on Senate Floor, Warns Against Obama Enemies' List
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 11:44 AM
Here's Lamar Alexander's laughable attack on President Obama today. Claiming to offer "friendly advice" to the White House, Alexander accused Obama of using Nixon-style tactics to vilify his political foes and warned the president is close to compiling an enemies' list.
Who are these critics so terribly threatened by Obama? Alexander named three defenseless innocents: the Chamber of Commerce, the health insurance industry and Fox News, all whores for the GOP and vice versa. The senator told Reuters:
"I'm suggesting to the president that he back up and start over. Don't start an enemies list. We want to work with you."Pith can hardly type for laughing so hard. Republicans want to work with Obama! Ha! That's a good one, senator. Seriously, does Lamar think Obama should keep quiet in the face of relentless attacks? Alexander, who points out he worked in the Nixon White House, should know that what Nixon did is different from merely responding to critics in the media. Tricky Dick used the powers of his office to mess with people who crossed him. We can't remember the real enemies' list ever bothering Alexander quite as much as this pretend list of Obama's.
By the Way Morning Roundup
Posted by Tracy Moore on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 9:07 AM
Turns out Steve McNair's murderer Sahel Kazemi knew Adrian Gilliam Jr.--the man she bought the gun from--before the parking lot purchase that police originally thought was happenstance. ...That dude from Georgia who was kicked off a plane diverted to Nashville for reciting Bible verses and saying crazy stuff? No charges being pursued right now. ...Mayor Karl Dean was all set to end the State Fair and redevelop the fairgrounds, and then the Fairgrounds Heritage Preservation Group showed up, citing century-old legislation that Davidson County must host a state fair permanently for the rest of forever. And that the mayor doesn't even have the right to override that. Nah, we totally do, says the mayor's office. ...Electricity bills will drop Nov. 1! ... Corporate compassion does exist: Regions is closing six offices in Nashville, but they won't tell us which ones until they tell the employees and customers first.
