• Photo: Peter Nash

He was lost and now found. Willie, the wandering gypsy. Part Lab, part human, it’s amazing how well-trained and willing to please Willie could be. Rescued down Franklin way and vetted entirely with love via Williamson Animal Control, Willie is now ready to quit roaming the hills looking for a permanent home. Whoever had this wide-eye near-human pooch took great care. Handsome, strong, he seemingly took direction for his photo session. “Willie, would you mind hopping up on the bench? Look into the camera, wet your lips, and smile.” P.S. Willie does smile. We thought it was a snarl, but yes — he smiles.

See Willie now at Williamson Animal Control, behind Franklin High. Call: 790-5590.

Portrait by PeterNashDogs.com.

Watch the mayor discuss his war on obesity and laugh at CBS correspondent Chip Reid, a poor Yankee soul who's never heard of a meat-and-three.

Certifiable hack and Christian apologist Dinesh D'Souza will regale a Nashville audience tonight (7 p.m. sharp) at Vanderbilt University's Sarratt Cinema to hump his new book, Godforsaken, and deliver a speech that is sure to throw red meat to a narrow coterie of already-believers and generally annoy most other people who will be doing other, likely godless things with their evening.

D'Souza's lecture, titled “How Christianity Shaped America: Religious Liberty and Liberal Intolerance," is sponsored by the university's student newspaper, The Vanderbilt Torch, which regurgitated D'Souza's press release's talking points on their website earlier this week:

Called one of the “top young public-policy makers in the country” by Investor’s Business Daily, D’Souza quickly became a major influence on public policy through his writings. Illiberal Education, his first book publicized the phenomenon of political correctness in America’s colleges and universities and was on the best seller list for 15 weeks. Subsequent bestsellers include Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, The Virtue of Prosperity, What’s So Great About America, Letters to a Young Conservative and What’s So Great About Christianity, and The Roots of Obama’s Rage. His latest work, Godforsaken, responds to the problem of evil.

A prolific, [sic] writer, persuasive debater, and sought after speaker on college campuses as well as many other venues, D’Souza has been named one of America’s most influential conservative thinkers by the New York Times.

Behold the magic of the press release! Magic, because nowhere in the above ego-massaging propaganda does it mention that D'Souza:

‣ believes liberals are responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and, due to their hedonistic ways, culpable for the horrors of Abu Ghraib;
‣ knows but cannot prove President Obama is a Kenyan Marxist, because duh;
‣ thinks slavery wasn't all that bad because slaves were treated "pretty well";
‣ stole correspondence from Dartmouth's gay student alliance in order to out gay students in the student newspaper (and then denied it ever happened);
‣ published illustrations of a hanged black man in a fictitious interview with a Ku Klux Klansman as editor of the Dartmouth Review;
‣ wants the 1964 Civil Rights Act repealed because it's not working;
‣ dated Ann Coulter;
‣ claims quantum physics is proof of an afterlife!

While we salivate with glee how he plans to explain away such prickly topics such as The Jefferson Bible, Non-Christian Deism, that blasted 1796 Treaty with Tripoli, or facts in general, we can rest assured that given D'Souza's penchant for baseless conspiracy theories and all-around smugness, hearing him give a talk on intolerance will be good, clean and cheap entertainment.

As yesterday's Easter holiday reminded many, one downside of being an atheist is that none of your heroes ever rise from the dead and become zombie saviors whose rabbit minions lay eggs and deliver chocolate in baskets lined with fake plastic grass. They just die, godless and prone to rot. One upside, though: This new(ish) billboard makes people think atheists are really good-looking! Not to mention happy and well-adjusted. Hope that makes up for an eternity in hellfire, atheists!

PSC has no reason to readily vacate its spot on the east bank outside of a major financial incentive, a factor that’s created one of the greatest impediments to relocation. Its current location provides the three components the company needs to function: access to the interstate, the railroad and barges along the river.

That combination has made it tricky to find another location in Nashville where PSC could thrive. Acquiring the land via eminent domain, many say, is simply not an option. First, the company, as a metals scrap plant, is a necessity for the city. In addition, the Metro Development and Housing Agency is in the midst of a public relations fiasco after a judge ruled Tower Investments, a development group, deserved more for its Music City Center land than the city paid through condemnation. Metro has appealed that decision.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in Garrison's article: the identity of the controversial financial wheeler-dealer who actually owns PSC. At least it was a surprise to me.

The two victims of the nightmarish abduction in question were Paul Turek and Rob Wood, both of whom sustained some pretty severe wounds. The two are thus faced with some steep medical bills, and a handful of pals in the local rock community are looking to help out. Turek, as you can see in this tour vlog shot for us by Diana Lee Zadlo, was once the drummer for, as I once called them, "Southern-tinted blues-rock outfit" Denney and the Jets. D and the Js will be headlining a benefit show for Turek and Wood on Monday, March 26, at Exit/In. Also performing will be local guitar wizard — and No. 5 on our list of 2011's best local albums (even though his Behold the Spirit technically came out in 2010) — William Tyler, proto-punky garage rockers D. Watusi and jocular live hip-hop outfit The Greater Good. On the ones and twos will be lead Turbo Fruit Jonas Stein, aka DJ Sparkle City.

Cover for the show is $5, but attendees are encouraged to donate as much as they're able. Now, I know this benefit will take place on the same night as the second round of Mercy Lounge's Road to Bonnaroo series — an important little happening in the local rock community — but I'll just bet you could catch some of that one and cast your vote, then head on over to Exit/In and pitch in. Or vice versa. Whatever works for you. For more info on Monday night's benefit, see the Facebook event page.

This morning, TNReport posted a story containing what may be the most ironic headline of the year so far:

State officials last Friday said they would wait a week before enforcing the state’s new law banning tenting or laying down of bedding on state property not expressly permitting camping. That includes War Memorial Plaza, a marble-topped public square where protesters have camped since October.

Michael Custer, Occupy Nashville’s most vocal spokesman, told TNReport several protesters will announce at a press conference Thursday they will risk arrest to stay on the plaza.

State officials declined to comment about exactly when or how they plan to enforce the new law.

“We’re prepared to enforce the law when those seven days are over,” said Jennifer Donnals, spokeswoman for the Department of Safety.

Indeed, with the Tennessee Highway Patrol's Operation Little Big Horn ostensibly less than 24 hours away, the remnants of Occupy Nashville must not only contend with impending eviction, but with each other as well.

As Steven Hale reported in the The City Paper this week, the movement is experiencing fractious internal squabbles over the movement's direction and the responsibilities (and, perhaps, loyalties) of its members.

"Since the new year — and particularly since the return of state legislators has forced Occupiers to ponder phase two — various factions within Occupy Nashville have cropped up, vying for attention from within and without," Hale reported. "Once-celebrated differences among members have become deepening fractures."

Hale goes on to note the split between those who camp on the plaza and those who don't, and takes particular note of a squabble between an Occupier named Jason Steen and Dorsey Malina, both of whom are members of the Occupy Nashville's PR team.

The upcoming March/April issue of the literary journal Nashville Skyline will center on the theme of "Home." But for her piece, Amanda Cantrell Roche chose the opposite tack. She spent a night in a tent on War Memorial Plaza with the Occupy Nashville encampment, which led her to make this video.

With the encampment's days on the plaza likely numbered, and the journal not coming out until next month, we asked Roche — a founder of Murfreesboro's Blue Moves Modern Dance Group, now in its 23rd year, and a veteran of numerous local arts groups — to describe her experience:

The family of Phillip Parker, the bullied, openly gay Smith County teenager who committed suicide last month at his home in Brush Creek, is holding a silent auction 3 p.m. this Sunday, Feb. 19 to help pay for his funeral costs.

Memorabilia donated by country artists Montgomery Gentry, Aaron Tippin and Toby Keith will be among the items up for bid. Phillip's grandmother, Glenda Odom, says there will be hamburgers and hot dogs available, and for entertainment, a series of wrestling matches.

The event will be held at the Smith County Agricultural Center, 159 Ag Center Lane, in Carthage, Tenn.