In Monday's case, decided by a bitter 5-4 vote, the conservative majority ruled that employers may forbid employees from banding together to fight wage and other workplace issues covered by arbitration agreements. The court said a federal arbitration statute overrides federal labor law intended to protect workers' bargaining power.

Speaking for the four liberal dissenters, Ginsburg said the decision threatens to return the country to a time in the late 19th century and early 20th when workers were forced to take jobs strictly on the boss's terms and "yellow dog" contracts, forbidding employees from joining labor unions, were common.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg takes off the gloves

Hundreds turned out for the South Knoxville Open Streets party yesterday. The weather was a little more accommodating this time. It was hot but at least it didn't rain. There were people of all ages including lots of families with kids. It was dog friendly (except for the heat), and there were about a million bicycles. Alliance Brewing was party central, and there were booths and food trucks all along Sevier Ave. with the party extending down Foggy Bottom to Suttree Landing Park. Click the photo above for a few more cellphone pics.

So, a country that can produce the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin and Monty Python AND put on a wedding like that makes me want to be British, at least for a day.

Open Streets – May 20, 2018 – South Knoxville 2 PM to 6 PM
Enjoy music, activities, food and more.

Open Streets: Free Bike Rodeo, Free Helmet Giveway at South Knox Elementary

According to this story in the Sentinel, Knox County got hacked election night and the distributed-denial-of-service attack that made the election results unavailable was a smokescreen for a more invasive attack. Somebody hacked a county server and had a look around while everyone was distracted by the election website being down. The FBI and Homeland Security is investigating. It's kind of hard to believe that this elaborate attack was just someone deciding to have a quick look around on a county server.

Tune in to your Community TV channel at 7:30 PM on Friday, May 18th for an interesting program with Mike and John Stewart as they discuss the results of the recently concluded 2018 session of the Tennessee General Assembly. Mike Stewart serves as caucus chair of the Democratic Caucus in the Tennessee House of Representatives and has an up close look at the General Assembly throughout the entire session. Tune in for insights not often seen and expressed on the fate of legislation in the TN General Assembly.

Community TV Knoxville streams live (here!)

or on your local cable provider
Comcast Channel 12
Charter Channel 193
Wow! Channel 6
ATT U-verse Channel 99

Sports Illustrated has a funny article about the Celtics.

For the past 15 years or so, Boston has been the sports equivalent of a perfect family. You know the ones I’m talking about—they send out that obnoxious holiday card printed on thick, fancy paper that’s softer than your bed sheets and costs more than your yearly cell phone bill. In the photo, everyone’s outfits are perfectly coordinated (but don’t seem overly match-y), as though they just stepped out of an Instagram ad for How To Be Attractive and Also Successful. They’re laughing and smiling at the camera because everything is perfect and winning is so much fun!
...
If you aren’t a fan, Boston sports makes you seriously consider putting on a Browns jersey and walking slowly out into the ocean.

I haven't watched any NBA games this year. However, I am sort of a LeBron fan. After reading this article and remembering some of the great Celtics teams, I may have to watch the Celtics play Cleveland.

Vanderbilt poll results...

Bredesen has the highest favorability among all voters. Fitzhugh has a huge name recognition deficit in the governor's race. On other issues, voters favor Medicaid expansion two to one.

UT endowment investing in Cayman Islands; details kept secret under law approved by legislature in 2017

Why so secret? Warren Buffett discloses his investments. Maybe the endowment, the UT board members and the governor should all have to disclose their investments. Might be interesting to cross-reference them.

The [Boulder] city council unanimously passed an ordinance on Tuesday to ban the sale and possession of assault weapons, bump stocks and high-capacity magazines — becoming one of a handful of cities nationwide that have taken action to change its gun laws in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting massacre.

There is a clause allowing owners of assault weapons to apply for a permit proving prior ownership as long as they pass a background check and are not prohibited by law from owning a gun.

Yeah!

Great American writer was 88...

Amazon is having a one day sale on selected SanDisk memory cards and USB drives.

Funny story. After doing a lot of research, I had just ordered this SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD on Sunday. It is still in transit and I noticed the lower one day sale price of $250, which is a pretty good deal. I contacted Amazon to see about a price adjustment credit. They said they don't do that, and suggested I return the drive and order another one at the lower price. I said that doesn't make any sense, so as a consolation they upgraded the new order to free overnight shipping. OK, then. Seems like a lot of extra work for everybody v. just clicking a price adjustment button, but whatever.

Anyway these are some pretty good deals on SanDisk products. That 1TB external drive is USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 (also USB-A 3.0 and 2.0 compatible) which means it should be super fast for an external drive, and it's supposed to be rugged. Can't wait to try it out, even if I have to wait another day to save a few bucks.

(Disclosure: these are affiliate links and I get a small referral fee if you purchase through them at no extra cost to you.)

Join Umoja Abdul-Ahad for a discussion of Muslims and the Making of America by Amir Hussain on Wednesday, May 23, noon–1:00 in the East Tennessee History Center auditorium. Bring your lunch or pick up something downtown. Drinks are available for fifty cents. Reading the book is optional.

The September 11 attacks and their aftermath have fed a fear of American Muslims, arising from the popular misconception that Islam is a new religion to America.

Brightline, a new privately owned train in South Florida, is hoping to clear up highway congestion by taking some of the cars off the road while still making a profit.

Are private commuter trains the answer to congested highways?

Brightline

Americans didn't always spend the most. In the 1980s, several countries spent equally, but US spending grew faster in the 1990s, according to a 2017 analysis from the Commonwealth Fund. This was partially because several expensive specialty drugs came to market, and because drug companies that set the price in the United States, unlike in Europe, which has price controls.

Americans often pay substantially more for the same drug than people in other countries do.

1. Actimmune: $52,321.80 for one month...

The 5 most expensive drugs in the United States

Tune in on Friday, May 11 @ 7:30 PM for a visit to the Knox County Democratic Party's Truman Day event! DTV recorded speeches and interviews with Democratic Candidates for the US Senate, House of Representatives, Governor of Tennessee, the Tennessee State Legislature, and the Knox County Commission. If you couldn't attend Truman Day here is a chance to hear from the candidates for yourself and if you did attend, here is a chance to catch some things you may have missed.

DTV airs on Community TV's cable channels:

Comcast Channel 12
Charter Channel 193
Wow! Channel 6
ATT U-verse Channel 99

and live streams on the CTV Website (here!)

From the website: "Each year, folks from all over the Knoxville area and the Southeast join us to celebrate and honor the rich heritage of Vestal – the South Knoxville neighborhood that is home to the Candoro Arts and Heritage Center – and surrounding communities. It’s not a festival, it’s VESTIVAL! Music, art, food, and more fill the event that is loved by all generations. Proceeds from the event go toward the preservation of the Candoro Arts and Heritage Center and programs that take place at the historic marble building."

More info...

Map...

Democrats may not care for George Will, but he lately is speaking up against the current leaders.

In December, 2017, he wrote, "By joining Stephen K. Bannon’s buffoonery on Moore’s behalf, the 45th president planted an exclamation point punctuating a year of hitherto unplumbed presidential depths. He completed his remarkably swift — it has taken less than 11 months — rescue of the 17th, Andrew Johnson, from the ignominy of ranking as the nation’s worst president."

More recently, May, 2018, he writes, "Trump is no longer the worst person in government. Donald Trump, with his feral cunning, knew. The oleaginous Mike Pence, with his talent for toadyism and appetite for obsequiousness, could, Trump knew, become America’s most repulsive public figure. And Pence, who has reached this pinnacle by dethroning his benefactor, is augmenting the public stock of useful knowledge. Because his is the authentic voice of today’s lickspittle Republican Party, he clarifies this year’s elections: Vote Republican to ratify groveling as governing."

Many Democrats/Liberals knew Pence was worse than Trump. I've found that to be a reason to be scared if Trump were to be impeached.

Is this why the Maryville Daily Times newspaper decided to discontinue running his columns?

You can't make this stuff up...