On behalf of a grateful nation...

America must not let China win

After a three-decade run, a veteran advocacy group will hold its last motorcycle demonstration ride — called "Rolling Thunder" — in the U.S. capital this Memorial Day weekend.

Rolling To A Halt: Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally Ends 30-Year Tradition

Betty Bean, KnoxTNToday:

For the past several decades, abortion-rights opponents have become one-issue voters, willing to ignore the flaws and shortcomings of their champions as long as they help in the fight to reverse Roe v. Wade.

Now, with new members on the U.S. Supreme Court, the threat to Roe is real. Perhaps those who don’t want to go back to the days of coat hangers and quinine better think about doing the same.

Over the last few decades, Americans have become less mobile, and most adults – especially those with less education or lower incomes — do not venture far from their hometowns.
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Over all, the median distance Americans live from their mother is 18 miles, and only 20 percent live more than a couple of hours’ drive from their parents.
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The United States offers less government help for caregiving than many other rich countries. Instead, extended families are providing it, whether they never moved apart, or moved back closer when the need arose.

Families live closest to their mothers in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, New York, and Tennessee.

Aging baby boomers and childcare are reportedly contributors to less mobility.

During the 1983 recession, we moved 600 miles away from family for job opportunities. My mother and father moved 400-800+ miles from their families due to WWII. My husband's parents moved 200 miles from their parents for education opportunities.

Sometimes, for some people, a move is just not possible. It cost a lot of money to move and then you have to have enough when you get to your destination to survive for a while. We sold our little fishing boat for $800 and a job was waiting.

It's a heat wave. A month before the start of summer and it's in the 90s. Can wear shorts and a t-shirt at 6am. Love it. Kinda wish we had a pool. Running through the sprinklers will have to do. Enjoy!

Washington has become the first state in the nation to pass a law allowing composting as an alternative to burial or cremation of human remains.

Washington becomes the first state to legalize composting of humans

It was something of a shock to members of the Knox County Board of Health, meeting late last month to review the proposed budget for fiscal year 2020: a 30% decrease in the funds allotted for indigent medical care.

Knox County cuts indigent health care budget

Republican Caucus members voted 45-24 for the nonbinding resolution of no-confidence in Casada.
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Gov. Lee, said in a statement that House Republicans had "sent a clear message, and I'm prepared to call a special session if the speaker doesn't resign."

It takes a lot for the Republicans in Nashville to act. Isn't there someone else who should have resigned and never did?

If so what are his thoughts? You can call and ask local (865) 523-3772 or his DC office (202) 225-5435
GOP Michigan 3rd District Congressman Justin Amash has and said this about it today via Twitter

Here are my principal conclusions:
1. Attorney General Barr has deliberately misrepresented Mueller’s report.
2. President Trump has engaged in impeachable conduct.
3. Partisanship has eroded our system of checks and balances.
4. Few members of Congress have read the report.
I offer these conclusions only after having read Mueller’s redacted report carefully and completely, having read or watched pertinent statements and testimony, and having discussed this matter with my staff, who

UPDATED MONDAY 5/20/19
GOP representative Amash keeps going making a public argument for impeachment better than current Democratic leadership

People who say there were no underlying crimes and therefore the president could not have intended to illegally obstruct the investigation—and therefore cannot be impeached—are resting their argument on several falsehoods:
1. They say there were no underlying crimes.
In fact, there were many crimes revealed by the investigation, some of which were charged, and some of which were not but are nonetheless described in Mueller’s report.

A Tesla Model 3 car involved in a fatal crash with a semitrailer in Florida was operating on the company’s semiautonomous Autopilot system, federal investigators have determined.
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David Friedman, who was acting head of the NHTSA in 2014 and is now vice president of advocacy for Consumer Reports, said he was surprised the agency didn’t declare Autopilot defective after the Gainesville crash and seek a recall. The Delray Beach crash, he said, reinforces that Autopilot is being allowed to operate in situations it cannot handle safely.

“Their system cannot literally see the broad side of an 18-wheeler on the highway,” Friedman said.
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“Tesla has for too long been using human drivers as guinea pigs.

It's like a lot of new technology these days. The beta versions get implemented or people are allowed to continue using the product(s) without safety precautions otherwise you're a Luddite if you don't go with the flow. Sheesh.

We're all running for President.

There are now 24 people registered to run for the Democratic nomination for President. Yeehaw!

We have a plethora of choices and lots of good choices. How will we decide?!?!? How will we decide?

Turns out the IRS publishes exactly how many. In 2016, the most recent year for which information is available, the IRS estimated there were 16,087 tax returns claiming income of $10 million or more

One in every 11,612 San Franciscans is a billionaire.

How many stinking rich people are there in the US?

Knox County Public Library invites the public to join Julie Gautreau for a consideration of American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey into the Business of Punishment by Shane Bauer at this month's Books Sandwiched In program. Bring a lunch or pick up something at a downtown restaurant.

In 2014, Shane Bauer was hired for $9 an hour to work as an entry-level prison guard at a private prison in Winnfield, Louisiana. An award-winning investigative journalist, he used his real name; there was no meaningful background check. In American Prison, Bauer weaves a deep reckoning of his experiences together with a thoroughly researched history of for-profit prisons in America from their origins in the decades before the Civil War.

"American Prison exposes all the moving parts of our industrialized system of incarceration: its roots in slavery, its disproportionate exploitation of minorities and the poor, the complacency of the justice system and the cynicism of the legislative bodies that use it for political leverage. These troubling issues existed even before people figured out how to make money off that system by privatizing it. Bauer's research shows how incarcerated human beings have become chattel for big business and reveals the escalating indifference of corporations to the needs and dignity of workers—in CoreCivic's case, its underpaid, under-trained and overworked guards. American Prison is a study in everything that is wrong with American justice and American business," Gautreau said.

WBIR reports...

Dang, a little nippy when I got up at 5 AM, 47 degrees. Folklore says this is Blackberry Winter. Apparently there is still a possibility for Whippoorwill Winter or Cotton Britches Winter.

Happy Mother's Day to Moms everywhere!

Rhino is releasing "Woodstock - Back to the Garden: The Definitive 50th Anniversary Archive." The massive box set has 38 CDs (432 Tracks, 267 previously unreleased) plus posters, photos and more. The set includes "a near complete reconstruction of Woodstock clocking in at 36 hours, with every artist performance from the festival in chronological order."

(Others who have looked at the track list say there are a couple of tracks missing here and there, but it's still pretty impressive and the most complete archive to date, at least that I'm aware of.)

This is a limited edition collection of 1969 individually numbered copies. It is available for pre-order now and will be officially released on 8/2/2019. Cost: $800.

If that breaks the bank, there is a 10 CD set with a selection of songs by every performer at Woodstock. Cost is $150.

There's also a 5 LP set with "42 of the finest performances recorded at the legendary festival." Cost is $125.

Finally, there's a 3 CD set with the same track listing as the 5 LP set. Cost is $35.

Just recently in Lenoir City, a woman helps out an older woman. The older woman was purchasing $1000 gift cards in response to a phone call where she was told her granddaughter was in jail. The younger woman intervened and called the police. Another attempted scam averted.

Then, "a Blount County woman was scammed out of more than $13,000 Wednesday from a person out of Florida who claimed to represent Publishers Clearing House, according to the sheriff's office. "

Don’t send anyone money unless you can confirm there is a legitimate need.

If someone calls you and says a family member needs money, hangup and call a member of the family that will know more about the situation. If there are no other family members to call, then call your local police department to see if they can help or recommend someone who can help.

If someone calls you and says you have won some money but need to send money to collect the winnings, hangup. You have won nothing.

If someone calls you and says you owe money, hangup. You can call the provider directly using a phone number you know goes directly to the creditor to find out if there is a debt in need of payment. Do not call a phone number provided by the caller.

Be careful out there.

On Tuesday, May 21, members of Knoxville Area Women in Black will meet as usual at 12noon at the corner of Locust and Cumberland in downtown Knoxville. The group has held weekly vigils for 17 years in front of the Duncan Federal Building. To mark the anniversary, on May 21 at 12:15pm the group will walk in a silent procession from Locust and Cumberland to Krutch Park for a brief program.