By way of Atrios, here's an interesting poll:

Also, here's an interesting post from the TennViews roundup from an Obama supporter in Memphis:

55-40 Memphis: Electability

I believe that it is much harder to get a woman elected president today than a person of color, all else being equal. As widespread as racism is, sexism runs even deeper and affects a larger proportion of the electorate.

Compounding the problem: We are much more attuned to racism, and quicker to call it out, than we are to even blatant sexism.

I don't want to further the debate about whether Obama v. Clinton comes down to sexism v. racism, but do you think this poll (which is a year old) truly reflects the biases of American voters? And is 55-40 right that sexism runs deeper and is harder to recognize?

The Memphis Pink Palace family of museums is looking for a Collections Manager. Ron Brister, Collections Manager for 37 years, has retired. An opportunity like this comes along once in a lifetime.

Picture of Mars from the "Roving Mars" by Walt Disney Pictures at the IMAX Theater at the Pink Palace.

Find out more about the job on the Pink Palace Museum page, at the bottom, on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...).

The Pink Palace Museum current exhibition is "Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics" (Bodine Exhibit Hall) through April 27. You can see a couple of the fabulous Burton Callicott Murals commissioned by the WPA on The Pink Palace Mansion page. Both the musem and the mansion have pages on the Art Museum Touring.com (mansion on the page preceding the Pink Palace Museum).

Sherrie

This week's monster Tennessee liberal blog roundup is here.

Did you know Washington State has a primary to be held February 19th? In 1989 the Washington State legislature adopted an initiative to, apparently, not only hold a caucus but also hold a primary.

The law states:

The... presidential nominating caucus system in Washington State is unnecessarily restrictive of voter participation in that it discriminates against the elderly, the infirm, women, the disabled, evening workers, and others who are unable to attend caucuses and therefore unable to fully participate in this most important quadrennial event that occurs in our democratic system of government.

A Presidential Primary allows each Washington voter to participate in the nomination process, not just political party insiders who participate in the caucuses.

The Republican Party has elected to use all or part of the primary results to select delegates.

The Democratic Party has elected to never use the primary results to select delegates.

Odd?

WATE: Strawberry Plains woman finds insurance documents all over her front yard

"You have driver's license numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, addresses, and VIN numbers," says Komoroski.

She says her husband had seen a garbage bag full of the paper fall off the back of a pick-up truck earlier, and the person driving kept going.

This might actually be a worse threat than computer data theft. No access to secure databases or technical skills required, just read it off a piece of paper. At least it's limited in terms of the number of possible victims as opposed to millions that might be exposed by way of a database hack.

My guess is that somebody was on their way to a secure disposal facility of some kind. There are lots of companies offering secure document disposal services for businesses. Hopefully companies with this kind of info in their trash are using them. Some have mobile units that will come on site.

Individuals should also shred documents such and bank statements and credit card statements and any other documents with personal info. Small shredders are inexpensive and available at any office supply store. As an alternative, the Knoxville Recycling Coalition has free quarterly secure paper collections for home and small business.

The most valuable piece of paper I ever found walking down the street was an internal memo that would have been very interesting to a major company's largest customer. It was info the company would probably not want the customer to see. It might have been even more interesting to the company's competitors, like possibly $millions interesting. It laid around on my kitchen counter for a few days while I pondered whether to return it to the company with a suggestion they ought to be more careful. I decided it would probably just get somebody in trouble, so I threw it away. Hope it made it to the dump.

A friend sent this to me. I understand Morgan's feminist viewpoint. I dson't agree with everything she says, but she has some keen insight to offer, and she can be a terrific writer. it won't make me change my support of Obama, but it does raise issues we all (especially women and minorities) should not forget.

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT by Robin Morgan

"Goodbye To All That" was my (in)famous 1970 essay breaking free from a politics of accommodation especially affecting women."

"During my decades in civil-rights, anti-war, and contemporary women's movements, I've avoided writing another specific "Goodbye . . .". But not since the suffrage struggle have two communities--the joint conscience-keepers of this country--been so set in competition, as the contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton (HRC) and Barack Obama (BO) unfurls. So.

Goodbye to the double standard . . .
--Hillary is too ballsy but too womanly, a Snow Maiden who's emotional, and so much a politician as to be unfit for politics.

--She's "ambitious" but he shows "fire in the belly." (Ever had labor pains? )

--When a sexist idiot screamed "Iron my shirt!" at HRC, it was considered amusing; if a racist idiot shouted "Shine my shoes!" at BO, it would've inspired hours of airtime and pages of newsprint analyzing our national dishonor.

--Young political Kennedys--Kathleen, Kerry, and Bobby Jr.--all endorsed Hillary. Sen. Ted, age 76, endorsed Obama. If the situation were reversed, pundits would snort "See? Ted and establishment types back her, but the forward-looking generation backs him." (Personally, I'm unimpressed with Caroline's longing for the Return of the Fathers.

Unlike the rest of the world, Americans have short memories. Me, I still recall Marilyn Monroe's suicide, and a dead girl named Mary Jo Kopechne in Chappaquiddick.)

Read the full article here...