Anything cooler than drinkin a beer on the porch with the neighbors

watching the fireworks & listening to the music on the tee-vee?

Saw the Gloria out working for Obama today!!

Apparently this is a common problem. Maybe East Town will think outside of the box. Perhaps could save on branch library building costs, etc.

From MSNBC "Nontraditional tenants filling up vacant malls"

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Maybe it's not kind to say it, but this one I won't miss.

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It might be appropriate to post red, white and blue bird photos today, but in honor of all the decent Americans who tolerate being routinely and persistently told they are socialists by the no-class, know-nothing propagandists who are the standard bearers for our country's most thoughtless decade, I present a red-bellied woodpecker on a white oak.

Following is a transcript of a letter from Thomas Jefferson on the occasion of the fiftieth birthday of our nation. The letter was written only ten days before his death on July 4, 1826.

Thomas Jefferson
to Roger Weightman
Monticello June 24. 26

Respected Sir

July 4th marks the anniversary of the birth of this nation. On that day, the Declaration of Independence was signed by a cadre of men, who wrote the words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ That declaration was a living promise to future generations of certain fundamental, inalienable rights such as the right to privacy.

One of my favorite charities is Heifer International, which was once known as Heifer Project. The provide a boost to farmers around the world by giving them such things as cows, water buffalo, bunnies, bees, and goats. The idea is that the family can get food from the animals and can also sell some of the products in the marketplace, thus bringing in some cash. In today's NYTimes, Nicholas Kristoff has a lovely story about how a Heifer Project goat given to a family in Uganda eventually made it possible for the daughter to come to America for college. It makes you proud to be alive and know that such good things can happen.

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Republicans have made a tranformation I don't fully understand, from rock-ribbed Bush backers to embarrassed by Bush's big-spending ways. To help me understand this change, I am inviting local conservatives to submit essays in response to the question below.

I will award prizes for Most Charming entry and for Firmest Grip on Reality. Contest starts at sundown and ends at sunrise on July 14.

In today's Knoxville News Sentinel there is an article by Kevin Cowan regarding ladies shorts. He briefly discusses the new "sophisticated" look of shorts.

Now, don't get me wrong, I love shorts. I'd wear them year round if I could. However, I've never thought about how shorts "can be appetizing at dinner". What's that about?

In addition, Mr. Cowan (and eHow.com) should be very cautious when discussing shorts in the workplace. Both suggest shorts should be "modest" when worn on the job. Neither mentioned a tip to ask your employer if "shorts" are acceptable at work.

In a sidebar, there are suggestions from Suite101.com for gals with large hips and ladies with a pudgy midriff.

Thanks to Kevin and the KNS for helping us "gals" try to navigate the world of shorts. I'm not sure it was worth the full page, but I bet Saul had fun taking the pictures.

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University just posted a summary of guidelines for public officials on dealing ethically with the press.

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The talking points were developed at a recent workshop sponsored by the center. It's a brief but interesting read that some may find quite timely with respect to Knox County gubmint.

Larry Van Guilder

By way of Josh Flory's Property Scope blog, here's an online "we want Costco in Knoxville" petition at wewantcostco.com.

We concur. It really should be in Blount Co. though. West Knox already has Sam's.

(The Mrs. and I were just talking this morning about how we wished we had a Costco.)

• Fourth of July Independence Day celebrations kick off at midnight tonight (12AM July 4th) in Gatlinburg with the nation's first parade. 100,000 people are expected to attend. Fireworks are scheduled for Friday, July 4th at 10PM, and will be visible along the Parkway through downtown Gatlinburg.

• The City of Knoxville presents Festival on the 4th at the Worlds Fair Park. Opening ceremonies are at 2PM in the Amphitheater. There will be live entertainment beginning at 3PM on the WDVX Stage. The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will present their 24th Annual Free Independence Day Concert on the south lawn main stage at 8PM, and fireworks begin at 9:35PM.

• Kingston Parks and Recreation over in Roane Co. will be "Smokin' the Water" beginning at noon with drag boat races, followed by a parade, a car show at Roane County High School, a homemade raft race, a home run derby at Byrd Field, live music at City Park by Tall Paul, vendors at the Gravel Pit and City Park, and finishing off with fireworks over Watts Bar Lake at 9:30PM.

• In case you don't get enough fireworks, Lenoir City will be Rockin' the Docks, Saturday July 5th at the Lenoir City Park-Cove on the banks of Fort Loudoun Lake, with live music starting at 3PM, food, children's play area, and fireworks at 10PM.

NOTE: Please be careful with fireworks. Ongoing drought conditions plus fireworks equals a big fire hazard. There's also the safety risk to yourself and others, and fireworks are illegal in most jurisdictions. Be safe, leave the fireworks to the pros.

SEE ALSO: Event roundups at the Knoxville News Sentinel and WBIR (including local fireworks regulations).

Metro Pulse takes a look at the ethics controversy surrounding the Knoxville News Sentinel's charter petition advocacy.

In the wake of the recent split of Scripps cable/online and newspaper/broadcast units, KNS Editor Jack McElroy announces some changes. There will be expanded coverage of regional news, and news operations will be organized around a 24 hour "Continuous News Desk" with Tom Chester at the helm. Jack Lail has the cool new job title "director of innovation."

In a another post, McElroy relates a message from the newspaper division's new CEO. Noting that national and international news are now commodities, E.W. Scripps CEO Rich Boehne says their mission is "Local. The opportunity to be uniquely and passionately local. To be so woven into the fabric of a community that there's no way we can't be the information marketmaker of choice," adding that they will "ooze into every crack of the markets we serve."

Two Links in a Long Chain
Jerry Taliaferro
From Women of a New Tribe exhibtion

The exhibition Women of a New Tribe closes Sunday July 6 at the KMA. Visit the KMA page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...). It is a striking photography exhibition honoring African-American women, their strength, beauty, and their role in American culture. In 2004, sixteen women from Knoxville and the surrounding area were selected from community nominations and photographed by artist Jerry Taliaferro to join the Women of a New Tribe. This exhibition organized by the Literacy Imperative features fourteen of these portraits.

Just a reminder, the KMA is charging no admission through December 31 as part of a special promotion.

Support your local museums! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Is there a web site, or central source of a guide for buying local goods? Like dates, times, location of all the various farmers markets. Restaurants that get most or all produce, etc from local farms. Also any other goods created in the area/region that might be of common demand in daily life?
Where to get them, etc.

KNS: Fulmer gets raise to $2.4 million; Pearl to $1.6 million

U.T. President John Petersen said they are "two of the best coaches in America."

No mention of the best coach, Pat Summitt. Other reports say UT is still negotiating with her.

At any rate, maybe the hearing and speech pathology department should put together a football squad or something.

McCain in Columbia:

"The free trade is an important issue, not only for Colombia but I believe for the economy of the world and, as you know, for the United States economy."

Tennessean: Authorities found 747 live animals and 12 dead ones at Pine Bluff "Kennels."

Compare and contrast.

Sounds like they ought to add fraud to the list of charges.

The City of Knoxville’s Parks and Recreation Division is accepting applications for its 2008/09 Challenge Grant Program, which offers grants to nonprofit projects associated with public parks or recreation facilities within the City limits.

A total of $25,000 is available this year to community groups, homeowner associations, schools, Scout troops and other organizations. The City will reimburse 50 percent of the cost of a single project, up to $2,500.

Previously, the grants have been used for playground equipment, water fountains, benches and landscaping materials.

Applications and grant parameters are available as of July 1, 2008 at www.cityofknoxville.org/recreation or at 865-215-2017. The deadline for applications is Sept. 14.

Kroger has expanded a recent beef recall to include packaged ground beef sold at Kroger stores in Knoxville...

The EPA has issued an air quality "Orange Alert" (unhealthy for sensitive groups) for East Tennessee today.

The primary pollutant is ozone. The health message is "Active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors." The particulate matter secondary pollutant is rated "Moderate."

George W Bush is perhaps the worst American president who has ever served. To this day it is a mystery to me how the man was able to gain the Republican nomination, steal the election, start two wars, get re-elected and then drag on a failed war for five years and drive the economy into the ground without getting impeached. Although the light is fading on the Presidency of Bush, it is not too late to impeach the man who lied to us about weapons of mass destruction. As of result of the President's deception, over four thousand American soldiers have died in Iraq and tens of thousands have been wounded, not to mention the one million or so Iraqis who have died directly or indirectly due to Bush's interference in their country.

The 2009 edition NAVTEQ map updates for Garmin GPS devices are now available at the Garmin website.

Also, Garmin has added some new models to the Nuvi lineup. The Nuvi 255W has a lot of features for a reasonable price. The higher end 700 and 800 models have been updated to provide route planning and trip logging of up to 10,000 visited points.

A new MSN Direct option is available on some units for automatic, real time updates on local traffic, weather, gas prices and more (plug-in receiver and subscription required). There's also a new feature* on some models that lets you download addresses from Google Maps and Mapquest.

UPDATE: *The Google and Mapquest point of interest download feature works with any Garmin USB attached GPS. I just tried it out with my Nuvi 650 and it works great. First you install the Garmin Commmunicator browser plugin from here. (Have your GPS hooked up via USB so it can verify correct installation.) Then when looking at a Google map, you can click "send", select GPS, select "Garmin", add an optional note (and title if there isn't one) and click "send". The Garmin Communicator screen opens for confirmation, click "send to gps" and you're done. It adds the address entry to the "Favorites" folder on my Nuvi 650.

Video-sharing gets local twist

Dane Baker is the creator of knoxtube.com, a video-sharing Web site that works something like YouTube. Users can post their own videos or view, rank and comment on videos posted by others.

Knoxtube recently hit 700 videos uploaded to the site, clips as diverse as performances by local bands and video of County Commission meetings.

Reportedly, Gen Y'rs are helping out the luxury car manufacturers.

Members of “Gen Y” — a famously fickle age group loosely defined as those born between 1978 and 1994 — don’t feel they need to earn their luxury, observed Ed Kim, director of industry analysis for AutoPacific, which tracks the automotive industry.

“They want it now, and they feel they deserve it now,” he said.

BMW is benefiting from the trend. Audi and Acura want in.

It's interesting how easy it is to get credit these days. When we were young (and we had to walk 10 miles in the snow to get to school :), you were lucky to get one credit card with a $300 spending cap. Unless your parents were helping out, the cars we bought were $500 junkers that required a lot of tinkering in the driveway. Ah, but we didn't live with our parents, whereas, "Living with the parents rent-free frees up cash for flashy rides like the M3...".

Anvil Shoot yes that little tiny thing towards the top of the picture is the anvil, not a big bird!

4th of July Activities!
The Museum of Appalachia's July 4 Celebration & Anvil Shoot is a truly nostalgic, old-fashioned, and family-oriented way to celebrate Independence Day and to experience summertime in Old Appalachia. Visit the Museum of Appalachia page on Art Museum Touring.com (Link...) and the Events page (Link...) for more information about all their 4th of July activities.

The dramatic anvil shoot is the highlight of the July 4 event. Several times during the day, excitement builds as crowds gather to watch as gunpowder is packed under the anvil and ignited. With a loud boom, the hunk of iron bursts from a cloud of smoke, catapulting as high as the treetops some 125 feet into the air. The earth literally shakes, and the deafening boom, it is said, can be heard as far away as 15 miles.

Support your local museums and galleries! They are economic engines for your community.

Sherrie

Just another lesson from the national care models so many truly believe are the answer, facts and experiences elsewhere notwithstanding. The English papers, Labor & Conservative, have similar reports on a regular basis.From the London Telegraph:

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P.S.- Seems fair that if McCain is to be referred to as "McBush", then lets see what we can do with the Messiah's name game!

WATE:: Independent prosecutor to investigate Knox Co. finances

MORE: WBIR, KNS, SnM...

Katie at Knoxville Talks notes a new poll showing "more people now say expanding oil drilling and building new power plants is a bigger priority than energy conservation."