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Congrats to the LP

Liberty Papers that is, on getting their 500,000th visitor on Sunday.

Those guys churn out a lot of great content, and as Doug posted,

We’re not here to promote any agenda other than the agenda of freedom, and open debate is always welcome.

One of the many post ideas I have trying to bounce its way out of my head right now is on the approach freedom-minded people have towards debate vs. that of nanny-state people.

Here’s a hint at the thesis–one of these groups tends to acknowledge and respect the fact that different people have different opinion. They are usually capable of friendly debate without letting their personal emotions get involved.

The other…

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To Save Us Money?

Asked if he would be willing to give up his seat, Cate said, “Probably. I would want to hear the law director’s opinion on how the re-do would be done and a full agreement from the plaintiffs that this would be the end of spending taxpayers’ money.”

Stop spending money. What a novel idea. I guess better late than never. Although I doubt they’ll really be saving us anything, just finding other ways to waste it.

Besides, I think someone called “no do-overs” before this game started.

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Why Can’t a Guy Like This Run For Public Office?

George Will’s column in yesterday’s Washington Post is about MLB umpire Bruce Froemming. There are several good stories told in this short column, but this one is my favorite:

A story for Froemming: Rogers Hornsby, who averaged.400 over five years, was facing a rookie pitcher who threw three pitches that he thought were strikes but that the umpire called balls. The rookie shouted a complaint to the umpire, who replied: “Young man, when you throw a strike, Mr. Hornsby will let you know.”

Baseball is a lot different than most other sports in that there isn’t really any subjectivity to the rules. Sure, umpires have to make judgements, but the rules are clearly defined. You never hear commentators say, “wow, they’re calling it really tight tonight” the way they do in football or basketball.

Then there is this:

Consider Sept. 2, 1972, when Froemming was behind the plate and the Cubs’ Milt Pappas was one strike from doing what only 15 pitchers have done — pitch a perfect game, 27 up, 27 down. With two outs in the ninth, Pappas got an 0-2 count on the 27th batter. Froemming called the next three pitches balls. An agitated Pappas started walking toward Froemming, who said to the Cubs’ catcher: “Tell him if he gets here, just keep walking” — to the showers.

Pappas’s next pitch was low and outside. Although he did get his no-hitter, the greater glory — a perfect game — was lost. Another kind of glory — the integrity of rules — was achieved.

This couldn’t happen (and rightly so) in football or basketball where officials are very hesitant to call things like pass interference or ticky-tack fouls in the closing seconds of a game. I think this is due to the nature of the sports. Baseball has a finite numer of situations and possible actions. It lends itself to a strict enforcement of the rules that other team sports usually aren’t afforded.

When I read articles like this, I’m reminded of how much I love(d) baseball–the sport, not MLB. It’s such a simple, complicated, and smart game.

It’s really sad that it has been pretty much ruined in the US.

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Monday Morning Potpourri

Hurricane Dean…this is getting pretty scary for the folks in Mexico as it looks like it is picking up. I have a friend who really geeks out over hurricanes, and I’ve been encouraging him to start blogging on them. I know he reads this (sometimes), so I’m calling him out publicly now. START!

Overheard on the radio this morning…
“If Shakespeare, Socrates, and Galileo were alive today they’d all own adult bookstores.”

I also heard an oldie but a goodie…
“Is that possible–to time travel speed?”
–Britney Spears

[youtube WoQgTI_0h8s]

My jaw hurts, but that doesn’t make me ugly.

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Money Re-directed — Gov’ment Cures All Ills!

This gets more and more interesting every day. I’m disappointed I won’t have access tomorrow. There’s no telling what I’m going to miss.

But the money for Dingus to go to Las Vegas came from a Knox County community grant approved for another group, Christian Cultural Ministries.

Cynthia Finch personally signed off on $1,000 for Dingus’s trip. A hand-written note above her signature explains Christian Cultural Ministries is “now defunct.”

At this point, does anything Finch has done really even matter? The fact that she is still employed by the County is what concerns me most at this point. Why aren’t the powers that be trying to separate themselves from her?

Interesting.

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You Can’t Rollerskate in a Buffalo Herd

Steve Pavlina on choosing happiness…

You’re here to create the life you really want, not to endure a life you don’t want. Your power to make decisions and take action is all you need to get you out of a crappy situation. Exercise that power consciously.

A pretty simple concept. But look around. How many people do you see actually see practicing this or doing what is in their own power to put it into motion? How many people, yourself included, do you know who are truly happy?

There is a list of songs with funny titles that gets floated around through chain emails. I’ve received it several times over the years, and I always check to make sure a particular Roger Miller song is still on it. Unfortunately, of the many people have laughed at the title, very few are even aware of the next line, which is actually the point of the song:

You can’t rollerskate in a buffalo herd
But you can be happy if you’ve a mind to

Pretty ironic. Happiness is actually not that tough to achieve…”all you gotta do is put your mind to it”. Every now and then it may require a little extra effort that most people aren’t willing to put forward, like reading past the title of a song to find out what it is really about.

For most, it’s easier to just stay pissed.

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What Box?

“Thinking outside the box”

One of the more annoying phrases used in business, and a personal irratant for me. Jack Lail describes how the process usually progresses at a newspaper:

Some suggest a meeting. Others say do market research and analysis. Still others suggest a focus group. And before proceeding, we must review the potential impact on anything and everything else. After a near-endless series of meetings, task forces and planning scenarios, the thought of stretching passes and life continues apace in the box.

That pretty much sums up the way I’ve seen it work everywhere I’ve been, small companies excluded. As far as my personal opinion of outside the box thinking goes (at least at my current job), I’ll be happy when I see some thinking inside the box.

Anyone who is truly thinking outside the box doesn’t even realize the box exists.

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In the KNS Today…

There is some pretty good stuff.

More of the same from Knox County Government with dissolved entities being funded by the County.

The state’s Charitable Solicitations Act mandates that all nonprofit organizations register — or file for a state-approved exemption — before seeking donations or grants, including government grants.

According to state records, there is no history of Knoxville Neighborhood Housing and Commercial Services Inc. registering or seeking an exemption to solicit donations or grants in the state of Tennessee, said Todd Kelley, director of the Division of Charitable Solicitations and Gaming.

Did the KNS have to dig through records to find this story, or do they have a source? Interesting. Like sands in an hour glass…

Illegal Immigrants are being unlawfully evicted from an apartment complex in Blount County.

Ramirez is pastor of the Church of God, Mountain Assembly in Maryville and a member of an ecumenical group of clergymen who minister to Blount County’s growing Latino community.

Hmm. Word on the street is that this may be only a partial job description. I’ll leave that up to the investigative reporters.

Someone is lobbying the federal government to save the penny for all of us who love it so.

Weller also said past polls have shown a majority of Americans favor the coin, which was first produced in the United States in the 1790s.

And just who does he happen to work for? A company with merely a passing interest…

The nation’s sole supplier of zinc “penny blanks,” Greeneville, Tenn.-based Jarden Zinc Products, is lobbying the federal government to protect its interests.

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Hang On Tight

We are about to go on a wild ride. The Knox County Ethics Committee is requesting an investigation of County Mayor Ragsdale’s office. Full story at WBIR.

It is surprising the Knox County Commission has time for this considering they have their own problems.

The upside to all of this is that if they are busy with lawsuits and throwing rocks at one another they may be too busy to raise taxes or do anything else “productive”.

“The government that governs the best governs the least.” Thomas Paine? Thomas Jefferson? No one seems to know for sure. It’s a damn good quote though.

Keep your hands and feet inside The Mixer AT ALL TIMES!