WBIR:

Because the suspect is dead, no charges will be filed.

OK, then.

Was just checking in from vacation land and learned the sad news that Volunteer Voters is no more. Today was apparently Kleinheider's last day.

WATE reports on the sad news that General Shale is shutting down its Riverside Drive facility and 65 people are losing their jobs during the holiday season.

Matt Edens, who doesn't even live here, reported this in the weekly Metro Pulse nearly a month ago. He got it from the Knoxville News Sentinel, who had reported it a week earlier than that.

Fox News reports:

Fred Thompson is likely to say his campaign is not lackluster or lagging behind despite the emerging perception among GOP insiders. The former Tennessee governor must build on a sluggish performance at the Values Voters Summit, in which he spoke for only a few minutes, and then a second appearance on Saturday night for Florida Republicans that some in attendance called embarrassing.

The version of the story linked here still has the error. Other versions have been corrected, and this one probably will be too.

Fox News: We report, you decide if it's accurate!

Get your free David Brooks here.

Or, put differently, when will this OJ hysteria end?

The Knoxville News Sentinel recently issued a call for bloggers to help cover the upcoming KNS v. Knox County Commission trial. The reasoning was that because the newspaper is the plaintiff, they needed independent coverage.

Jack McElroy announced on his blog that three bloggers have been selected. They are Rich Hailey, David Oatney, and Russ McBee. From McElroy's description, it sounds as though they will mostly be covering the coverage, not necessarily the trial itself (maybe Russ can elaborate on how that will work).

Anyway, its an interesting experiment in citizen journalism. I'm not sure a newspaper has ever done anything like this before. Once again, the KNS is way out front in working with the the local blogger community.

New York Times: Report Offers Grim View of Iraqi Leaders

WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 — A stark assessment released Thursday by the nation’s intelligence agencies depicts a paralyzed Iraqi government unable to take advantage of the security gains achieved by the thousands of extra American troops dispatched to the country this year.

The assessment, known as a National Intelligence Estimate, casts strong doubts on the viability of the Bush administration strategy in Iraq.

Front page of today's Knoxville News Sentinel: Analysts find Iraq still in need of outside help

Intelligence report warns against scaling back mission of U.S. forces

The Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months and its security forces have not improved enough to operate without outside help, U.S. spy agencies conclude in a new assessment of the country’s political and military fortunes.

Despite some uneven improvements, the analysts concluded that the level of overall violence is high, Iraq’s sectarian groups remain unreconciled, and al-Qaida in Iraq is still able to conduct highly visible attacks.

On a related topic, there's also some buzz about Bush's support for Iraqi PM "heckuva job" Maliki. One talking head said Maliki had no political power because right now power in Iraq boils down to who has the biggest militia, leaving me to wonder who has a bigger militia than Maliki's U.S. Armed Forces?

Also, is anyone else sick of hearing about "military commanders on the ground" (why are they on the ground? should someone help them get up?) and the hype surrounding the highly anticipated Petraeus report? This is an Iraqi political problem, not a U.S. military problem. Where is Condi Rice? Out shopping for shoes?

Well, our favorite know-nothing know-it-all is back on the front page of today's KNS editorial section with another incredibly stupid and misleading column.

I can't find a link to it from the KNS opinion page, nor did their online search turn it up. Maybe they were embarrassed by it. Which is almost just as well, because I am loathe to link to it. But you really have to read it to fully appreciate the profound ignorance. So, Google to the rescue.

In this week's installment of dangerously misinformed radical right-wing propaganda, this Pete Stevens character tells us that "The best way to fix the American health-care system is to make it just like the American grocery system. There isn’t an American grocery system. Free-market economics works — every single time."

Read more...

Friday's edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel had an insert called "Condo & Loft Living." The fine print at the top of the front page says "Advertising supplement to the Knoxville News Sentinel." Subsequent pages just say "Knoxville News Sentinel, Friday, August 17, 2007."

On page six, there's a feature article on "Lakeside Village", with the subhead "Look and feel of Norman Rockwell painting." It's accompanied by a photo of some elegant Charleston/Savannah style townhouses. The byline is by "Rhonda Robinson, Special publications correspondent."

The KNS does not have the "Condo & Loft Living" insert online, but you can see a fuzzy, cropped rendering of the photo that appeared in the KNS "special correspondent's" feature at Lakeside Village's website.

It looks pretty nice. Nice enough that the Mrs. wanted to drive down there and see them. But apparently "special correspondent" (fax transcriber?) Rhonda Robinson never went down there to actually see them for herself.

Here's what they really look like...

Knox County Schools Superintendent Roy Mullins responds to yesterday's KNS editorial that demeaned Knox County Teachers and criticized a plan to enhance their retirement benefits.

Mullins says "I take exception to the opinion expressed in the editorial" that is "clearly written from a position of ignorance concerning the Knox County school system’s budget, and it misrepresents an initiative that is designed to help keep certified teachers in our classrooms every day and in our school system for a career."

It also sounds like a page from the GOP playbook -- constant attacks on teacher's unions and public education to promote private school vouchers for rich kids instead of making public schools better for everyone.

At least according to the KNS. This editorial notes that the U.S. debt was $5.6 trillion and declining when Bush and the GOP took over, but after raising it four times in five years while spending like crazy and cutting taxes it's now at $9 trillion and growing.

And now, according to the editorial, it belongs to the Democrats in Congress, who will have to raise it again soon to pay the bills, and they also have to take the heat from the GOP for doing so.

This reminds me of the 2004 editorial endorsing Bush, which laid out all the reasons why he was a failure and a bad president, but went on to say you should vote for him anyway.

I guess I'm just not smart enough to understand all the subtle nuance behind this kind of reasoning.

The KNS has a somewhat biased article about the federal minimum wage increase that went into effect this week. They advance the tired right-wing conservative argument that it isn't necessary because nobody makes minimum wage anyway.

So if nobody makes minimum wage, what's the big deal with raising it?

The KNS fails to mention that Tennessee is one of only five states without a state minimum wage law, in the distinguished company of Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and Louisiana -- some of the poorest states in the nation.

The KNS fails to mention that more than thirty other states have a state minimum wage higher than the federal, including our neighbors in North Carolina and Arkansas.

The KNS fails to mention that nearly 50,000 Tennessee workers are paid at or below the federal minimum wage. They also fail to mention that many of these workers are single mothers who cannot afford health insurance or day care, even with the increased federal minimum wage.

...or your TV critic.

Speaking of which, is TV Critic the worst job in journalism?

(And which is sadder, blogging about someone who writes about TV, or blogging about someone who blogs about someone who writes about TV?)

A couple of weeks ago there was an odd story about a possible civil rights violation regarding the new location of the Burlington Library.

Aside from the fact that I had no idea there was any such thing as the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, or that they could bring a civil rights action, I didn't understand how it could be a civil rights issue.

Then I looked at a map of the new location as compared to the old and proposed alternate location and I could see what they were talking about.

Today's front-page headline story sheds a little more light on the site selection. It seems the PBA was involved in selecting a site owned by a PBA board member and big time Ragsdale supporter.

I don't recall seeing anything in the paper about it until after the fact. A recent editorial decries the lack of public input, again, after the fact.

CNN aired an awful Sicko hit piece by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Wolf Blitzer's show last night. It was so disgusting I had to leave the room. A few minutes later the Mrs. comes in and says, "Wow, you should see Michael Moore on CNN. He's furious!" I rewound the Tivo to watch him let Wolf have it.

Here's the You Tube video:

Moore promised to post a point by point factual rebuttal at his website. Here it is.

This was nothing more than a blatant attack on health care reform by the mainstream media to protect their corporate masters. Expect to see more propaganda like this.

Courtesy of Jack Lail, Managing Editor of MultiMedia for the Knoxville News Sentinel, I've just seen a preview of the new KNS website.

Read more...

Michael Silence reported earlier that the KNS will soon be dropping the free registration requirement at their website. It's about time.

Today he reports that GoVolsXtra is dropping paid registrations and becoming a free site. This will be pretty huge news for local sports fans and Volunteer fans around the planet.

He also says the KNS website is rolling out a new look tomorrow. I had heard something about the possibility of a Django project. Wonder if this is it?

Oh, and there's also this. Looks like the KNS is getting more serious about attracting web eyeballs.

UPDATE: KnoxViews asked Knoxville Voice publisher Dane Baker to comment on the news. Dane says:

"It's clear that Knoxville needs an independent voice now more than ever — we'll continue, as always, to report on stories as they affect ordinary people, eschewing the interests of massive corporations. A truly independent media, particularly at the local level, is vital for a functioning democracy, and we're proud to fill that role for Knoxville and East Tennessee."

Original post follows...

KNS to acquire Metro Pulse. Michael Silence has the scoop.

There were rumors on the Blab that it was being sold to Clear Channel. Guess that didn't pan out.

This puts Knoxville Voice at the top of the heap as the only major independent alt-weekly left in town. The rest have been assimilated. (Some might argue that happened a long time ago, but that's neither here nor there.)

Brian Conley will stay on as Publisher. Interesting.

UPDATE: KNS article here. It says Knoxvile Magazine is also being acquired as part of the deal.

It also says the deal is "an arrangement that preserves the weekly’s independence." Hahahaha. Good one.

The KNS has a report on the current drought situation in Tennessee. In case you hadn't noticed, it's dire.

One thing that caught my eye was the article's sub-head which says "no major effect on TVA". TVA says in the article there won't be any power shortages or other significant impact.

That's not what they told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. In our report on the drought at Facing South last week, the Chattanooga paper said the drought had cost TVA $300 million so far.

Even though they only get 10% of their power from hydro, it's their cheapest source and production is down 32%. Runoff into TVA reservoirs is down 39%, so it could get worse. TVA has to make it up somewhere, either buying it on open markets or burning more coal.

So remember this KNS quote when TVA comes crying to the ratepayers again next year looking for another rate increase. (They're already laying the groundwork.) And note that TVA does not mention conservation anywhere in their statements to the KNS. Because what company would ever urge their customers to use less of their product?

The Knoxville News Sentinel has finally, nearly two weeks later, printed two letters to the editor (scroll down) in response to the ridiculous guest editorial on climate change. The letter writers effectively straighten out the original column's erroneous claims regarding scientific method and the validity of current climate science.

We applaud the KNS for their new "citizens voice" program, which features regular op-ed columns written by a selected panel of contributors. But even though the writers are not paid professional KNS staff, the KNS still has a responsibility to check the validity of information presented as "fact" -- not only for "citizens voice" columns but for all editorial and op-ed content.

For example, just this week KNS editor Jack McElroy asserted in an editorial that Tennessee has no "hate crime" statute. This is not correct. (See TCA 40-35-114 (17) regarding enhanced sentencing.) Who edits the editors?

Just because a column is "opinion" as opposed to "news" does not mean writers can make stuff up to support their conclusions. Allowing them to do so is a disservice to readers, who in many cases are already misinformed on a wide range of issues because of irresponsible, sloppy journalism and outright agenda-based propaganda such as the "global warming is a leftist hoax" column.

The same goes for bloggers, too, if we want to be taken seriously.

Local broadcast media racked up several awards at the Tennessee Associated Press Broadcasters awards banquet last Saturday.

First place winners include:

• Best TV Newscast:
6 News Team, WATE-TV, 6 News @ 5:00

• Best Public Affairs:
Don Dare and Dave Wignall, WATE-TV, Scam Alert

• Best Photography:
Jason Tighe, WVLT-TV

• Best Spot News:
News Team, WNOX, The Houstons

• Best Enterprise:
Christine Jessel, WNOX, Garbage Bears

• Best Hard News Story:
Matt Shafer Powell, WUOT, Public Notice

• Best Radio Talk Show:
Matt Shafer Powell and Ann Lloyd, WUOT, Dialogue

• Best Radio Newscaster:
Catherine Howell, WNOX

WUOT and WNOX also had numerous honorable mentions. Congratulations to everyone.

Doing a quick check of the current Google News archives, here's the scorecard on KNS mentions of the 2008 presidential candidates:

• Fred Thompson: 35 articles
• Mitt Romney: 30 articles (some about Thompson)
• John McCain: 21 articles (some about Thompson)
• Rudy Giuliani: 16 articles (some about Thompson)

• Hillary Clinton: 27 articles (two about Thompson)
• Barack Obama: 23 articles (three about Thompson)
• John Edwards: 20 articles
• Al Gore: 9 articles (two on Thompson, one Victor Ashe)

Republican mentions: 102 (56%)
Democrat mentions: 79 (44%)

This new Citizen's Voice feature at the KNS is going great. One of their featured voices is Dr. Pete Stevens, a "retired international business and education consultant, researcher, writer, speaker, manager and professor," who today tells us that global warming is a "leftist" hoax.

(The headline on the KNS website says "Another look at the controversial issue of global warming." The print edition headline in bold print on the front page of the editorial section says "A leftist hoax?")

It's not clear what his PhD is in or what his field of research is, and I'm unable to find a reference to him in any published works or professional directories. (I was able to find a couple of irrational, radical rightwing rants on his website.)

Whatever his qualifications are, I'm sure his climatology credentials are stellar. Or that at least his status as an amateur climatologist is well established. And he cites one of the most respected climatologist of our time, whose credentials are beyond repute:

The global warming scare is, as John Stossel says, junk science and merely the latest anti-capitalism and anti-America leftist hoax.

Indeed.

Let's look at some of Dr. Stevens' studied assertions so that we might learn more about this hoax.

Read more...

Scroll down to where Bob Somerby dismantles Nashville Scene "editor" Liz Garrigan's hagiography of Fred Thompson (printed in the Washington Post this weekend):

In the last year, even mainstream journalists have been forced to acknowledge Gore’s brilliant work on global warming—and they’ve even been forced to admit that he was right on Iraq. ... But so what? For Garrigan, images of “roadkill” still roll off the tongue as she recites the time-honored scripts about Gore—scripts with no clear tie to reality. Did Naomi Wolf tell Gore to wear earth tones, as Garrigan suggests in this time-honored passage? Wolf denied it; Gore denied it; and no one ever presented evidence that it had actually happened. (Nor did anyone ever explain why it was supposed to matter.) But so what? Garrigan knows her cohort’s treasured scripts, and she’ll never stop repeating them. In her blinkered world, Bush still hasn’t destroyed the known world, and Gore still hasn’t become a world savior; she still lives in the “road-kill” days, when the press mocked Gore for his fake, phony wardrobe. And she sees no pattern—other than “luck”—in the fact that Gore got trashed for his clothes, while Thompson only got praised for his blatant “makeover.” That’s just luck, this daft woman says. Luck—and Fred Thompson’s brilliance.

But then, Garrigan is still churning the dumbest framework from Campaign 2000—the dumbest framework known to humanity.

Yet, somehow, this unreconstructed Fredophilia makes one of the national papers of record. Shocker.

Liz Garrigan is married to a guy who's a key player in the next Nashville mayoral race. She (and her newspaper) and her husband fully support DINO David Briley in the next cycle.

Hackery triumphs.

Get ready for President Thompson.

Remember the recent survey that suggested Fox News viewers were among the least informed? Here's Exhibit A as to why.

I forgot to mention it in time to remind you, but hope you got to see Rikki on WBIR's Inside Tennessee this AM. He was pinch hitting for Don Bosch. I only caught the last half, and Rikki had a great question about the immediate and long-term benefits expected from the restaurant smoking ban being discussed (not sure he got an answer).

The stormwater issue came up briefly at the end, and Rikki gently but effectively straightened out Susan Williams on the "it's just dirt" talking point. Nice job!

Cathy at Domestic Psychology was on last week talking about the school board's rezoning plan. She was great. She took some abuse from some of the panelists in my opinion, who suggested opposition was a bunch of complaining from people worried about their own situation without offering any solutions. She held her own, though. I would have told them that's why we have a school board and administrators and a school system that costs millions -- to figure this stuff out. She was more diplomatic.

(I wish WBIR would put these online. The show is barely even mentioned on their website. KAG gets no respect for producing a great show!)

CNN is reporting a 8:53 AM that there is a video of a cat playing a piano on YouTube. Developing...

(Seriously, I'm not making this up.)

UPDATE: Apparently I'm not the only one who noticed. At least this confirms I wasn't seeing things.

"Officials said there was no eminent danger to citizens or businesses in the area."

Breaking news out of Alabama about an amazing new technological discovery:

Some of Alabama’s nastiest coal-fired power plants may be cleaning up their act with some new technology called a "scrubber" that was unveiled by Alabama Power Company executives Wednesday.

The mechanism, expected to be operational in 2008, is designed to strip some of the worst pollution out of power plant emissions.

Dangerous sulfur dioxide, called SO2, is stripped from the plant's emissions through a scrubbing process that works like a shower. Pollution is mixed with limestone powder and water, which strips gases out of the plant's emissions before they're released into the air.

Wow, I wonder if TVA has heard about this new "scrubber" technology?

Wait a second. This sounds familiar. Oh, yeah, now I remember:

Most modern power plants — and all plants built after 1978 — are required to have special devices installed that clean the sulfur from the coal's combustion gases before the gases go up the smokestack. The technical name for these devices is "flue gas desulfurization units," but most people just call them "scrubbers" — because they "scrub" the sulfur out of the smoke released by coal-burning boilers. [..]

In most scrubbers, limestone (or another similar material called lime) is mixed with water and sprayed into the coal combustion gases (called "flue gases"). The limestone captures the sulfur and "pulls" it out of the gases.

Maybe the mule train hauling the mail got waylaid by bandits and the news about this technology has just now reached Alabama.

But seriously, it's hard to say which is worse -- Alabama Power Company executives trying to suggest this is "new technology" when in fact they should have installed it 30 years ago, or a "senior TV news reporter" who just transcribes what they say without bothering to check it out.