Since bank failures are in the news now, and since there's another thread here at Knoxviews discussing a novel that's apparently a roman a clef about the Butcher brothers...

what are your memories of the failure of United American Bank and the rest of the Butcher banking empire?

Inspired by a comment R.Neal made about things the government can do better than the private sector...

The Bushies tried to privatize the Army via Blackwater. Why not try to privatize the Navy next?

Does Carnival Cruises have good Republican contacts? (We wouldn't want "Princess" Cruises, not while "don't ask don't tell" is in effect...) Think of the recruiting opportunities! You could serve on an aircraft carrier with an Olympic size pool and a casino right under the flight deck!

Gavin MacLeod from the Love Boat is active in conservative Christian circles, so we'll promote him to (the dreaded) Rear Admiral Stubing. Fred Grandy actually served in Congress, so Gopher the purser could be Chief of Procurement!

We'll put some of the buffer, tougher guest stars in charge of the Marines, even.

I think this could really work out! What do you think?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!

It takes the entire text of the Jane Austen classic, and adds what it was clearly lacking: ravening hordes of the undead!

The cover alone is worth the cost.

Some facts about Dan:

1. Dan is a graduate of West Point who speaks Arabic.
2. Dan has served in Iraq, in combat.
3. Oh, and Dan is gay.

And Dan (and I) just can't understand why some people think that number threee contradicts, and even invalidates, numbers one and two.

More on Dan and some of his fellow gay vets at DailyKos.

Aside: Dammit, DADT pisses me off to no end. We are discharging Arabic linguists when we're fighting a war involving people who speak Arabic! What the #bleep# kind of sense does that make?

Over on another web site, I was discussing the Parable of the Good Samaritan, and how modern audiences often miss a key point of the story: The 1st Century Jewish target audience of the Parable loathed Samaritans, and the feeling was mutual. So, charity was not the sole point of the story; the point was also that someone who would have been expected to be least likely to help was the one who helped.

I decided to come up with a modern version of it.

You, too, can apologize to Rush Limbaugh, just like Michael Steele, Phil Gingrey, and Mark Sanford.

Stacey Campfield, the man who is to the state legislature what Greg Lambert is to the county commission, proposes that the state colleges and universities should screen out undocumented immigrants.

Not that anyone has ever really said its a big problem, mind you....

UTK is granting an honorary doctorate to Dolly Parton.

Okay, I love Dolly's music, especially her mountain roots work. (Little Sparrow is one of my favorite albums.)

I think her contributions to East Tennessee through Dollywood and philanthropy are wonderful.

However... UTK has only presented one other honorary doctorate, and that was to Howard Baker. (I'm amazed that they didn't give one to Alex Haley when he was living in Anderson County.)

This just strikes me as one of the things that makes honorary degrees.... as cheap as Dolly dresses. :-) ("It costs a lot to look this cheap!")

According to a poll conducted by an admittedly Democratic polling firm, Americans like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayres more than they like Rush Limbaugh.

As you're probably aware, photos have been published in a British tabloid of Olympic super Michael Phelps, to put it bluntly, taking a bong hit.

Here's several Washington Post columnists on the issue, all of which argue "God, this is so stupid."

• John Feinstein
• Sally Jenkins (especially worthwhile for her "not that I ever..." tone)
• Kathleen Parker (note that the Sheriff of the county where the photo was tokin'taken wants to prosecute Phelps)

And a valid point:
Don't screw up with cameras around if you have endorsement contracts

Its the fiftieth anniversary of The Day the Music Died.

If there's a levee convenient to you, I suggest driving a Chevy there.

So, if you listen to the conservatives, the greatest threat in the world to the sanctity of marriage is that two people of the same sex might actually solemnify their love for each other.

Apparently, though, 85,000 quickie weddings with no waiting period, including Valentine's Day "marry-thons" (groan), is just fine and dandy.

Feh.

The childhood home of Cormac McCarthy, one of two Knoxvillians to win the Pulitzer Prize, burnt to the ground.

Sadly, less than a year ago, a local preservationist group deemed it the most endangered historic structure in the county.

My grumpy cynical side says, "yeah, if it had been the home of anyone who ever strapped on a pair of cleats and ran through the 'T' at Neyland Stadium, it would have been declared a shrine and under twenty four hour armed guard, plus a fire protection system on a par with the one the National Archives uses for the Declaration of Independence..."

The National Zoo's giant pandas attempted to mate Thursday, apparently unsuccessfully.

Their keepers... ummm... tried to help them out, though.

Wouldn't it be cool if the pandas conceived in time for the inaugural? Anyway, I figure Butterstick needs a baby brother or sister...

(Okay, I'm not sure if calling the baby panda "Butterstick" instead of his official name "Tai Shan" is a national joke or not. When the cute little feller was born, it seemed that every news story described him as being "the size of a stick of butter". Hence, the nickname Butterstick was adopted almost universally. Tai Shan was chosen via an on-line poll, from a list submitted by the Chinese. Some creative souls hacked the web server so that Butterstick was an option.)

Well, I didn't attend last night's inaugural concert on the Mall -- I don't like crowds, and besides, its cold here 'round DC.

But I did watch it on HBO.

Impressive show overall, and I didn't realize Pete Seeger was still alive. But...

Jesus loves you and wants to help you escape your hideous heterosexual lifestyle.

Two articles from the WaPo:

• Parents who reject their gay teens increase the kids' future health risks.
• Abstinence pledges are not only ineffective, the pledgers participate in risky sexual behavior later on.

... a closet Unitarian!

Sigh. Once again, the American Right's message boils down to "how dare anyone not think like we do!"

I occasionally despair that there's no hope left for humanity, but sometimes, something reminds me that we're not so bad after all.

In Florida definitely, and possibly in Knoxville, people have been deliberately leaving rare coins in Salvation Army kettles.

Now, I'm not wild about the Salvation Army, because of their anti-gay policies. But charity like that just restores my hope.

I saw this on the sign in front of a Laurel, Maryland used pick-up truck dealer:

"GAS IS CHEAP BUY A TRUCK"

Okay, I know their business is selling trucks, but geez, that's the attitude that has the Big Three automakers begging the government for help.