The Tennessee ConserVOLiance

Zeitgeist = Spirit of the Times.

Why do I think that?

I just read a preview for a new hard-cover novel scheduled for release on August 5 by John Ringo, entitled The Last Centurion. Here’s the two-sentence blurb:

“In the second decade of the 21st century the world is struck by two catastrophes, a new mini-ice age and […]

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Der Spiegel – the German weekly news magazine, comparable to Time or Newsweek here in the USA – has just posted a story praising the remarkable progress that has been made in Iraq.

This is the equivalent of the New York Times praising President Bush for his leadership and communication skills and his masterly command of […]

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“Providing information to the public is an essential function of a representative government and an integral part of the routine duties and responsibilities of public officers and employees;”
- The Tennessee Legislature

One of the accomplishments of the 2008 session of the Tennessee Legislative was an updating of the Tennessee Open Records Act. The amendments to the […]

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It sounds like something we should support. After all, who could be against “Fairness?”
But the surface appeal of The Fairness Doctrine has all of the rigor of a soap bubble and collapses under the slightest scrutiny.
Two powerful criticisms illustrate why The Fairness Doctrine is a bad idea.

It has a chilling effect on free speech. First […]

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Hillary has won several state primaries. Barack has won several state primaries. When they win, they make victory speeches. When they lose, they make concession speeches.
Barack will not “win” the nomination until a majority of the delegates vote for him at the Democratic convention. THEN, he can claim victory. THEN, she should concede, endorse him, […]

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First a history lesson: In the last 100 years, there was only one two-year period, from 1969-1971, when the Tennessee House had a Republican Speaker. It happened in 1969, following the mandated 1-man,1-vote redistricting of the Tennessee Legislature (which reduced the disproportionate strength of the rural counties). After the turbulent 1968 elections, the defection of […]

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U.S. District Judge Robert L. Echols issued his ruling yesterday on the ACLU vs. Wilson County Schools (aka Lakeview Elementary). The Tennessean headlined their story this way:
Prayer group can’t get special access at school
Judge says Wilson public school supported religious activity
The ACLU, predictably , claimed victory. The Tennessean linked to Judge Echol’s 59 page MEMORANDUM, […]

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This is a tale of 54,041 high school diplomas. That’s the number of public high school diplomas awarded in Tennessee last year (2006-2007). There are 324 public high schools in Tennessee. The public high schools are operated by 119 public school systems. There are 137 public school systems in Tennessee, but only 119 of them […]

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The Tennessee Department of Education has recently defended its decision not to recognize homeschool diplomas with the assertion that because they were prohibited from having anything to do with the selection of a curriculum, teachers, or textbooks in the church-related schools which “umbrella” homeschoolers they had no way to tell what a homeschool diploma represented.
So, […]

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Since its favorable passage eight days ago by the House Education Committee, HB1652 (the bill to direct the Department of Education to resume recognizing homeschool and church-related school diplomas) has been languishing in the House Calendar & Rules Committee. This Committee is where all bills go when they receive committee approval. Calendar and Rules decides […]

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