W...Crazy Like a Fox?

A beloved Baptist minister died after leading his flock for 35 years. He had been father figure and spiritual leader to 2 generations of church members. A hard act to follow, his replacement would likely be unpopular no matter what his credentials. So they brought in a stern, semi-retired preacher to be the Sacrificial Lamb.

Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope this year at the age of 78. Some questioned why an older, more conservative candidate was selected by the College of Cardinals. Could it have been because John Paul II would have been nearly impossible to replace? CNN called JPII the Man of the Century for his efforts to resist Communism and to spread peace and Catholic doctrine worldwide. Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI is also a sacrificial lamb?

President George Bush has been widely criticized by many for his nomination of Harriet Miers to replace Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. This has been analyzed by Professor Glenn Reynolds. Charges of inexperience and cronyism were alleged. Perchance Ms. Miers was also a sacrificial lamb. Justice O'Connor meant even more to the country than Supreme Court Justice. Not some mere affirmative action pick, she has carried her share of the load. There would have been a howl were another woman not nominated. Blue Staters and some Right wingers are criticizing the President for Miers. We await the consideration of Judge Alito. Maybe the Prez is crazy like a fox? -James

Devaluation

Did you ever get so attached to something that you could not conceive of throwing it away?
Have you realized that you had not used something in so long and that you would probably never use it again? Have you thought, "Maybe I can sell this on Ebay or take it to Goodwill and get a tax write-off"? I have learned that there are some things even Goodwill Industries will not take. O, how a cherished object willy nilly tumbles in its valuation over time…such that it would unceremoniously be tossed in the dumpster.
I discovered 35 mm photography in 1975 and was hooked almost overnight. The natural evolution of this led to the darkroom and the magic of painting with light. At the peak of my hobby-mania I built a homemade tank for the purpose of developing 30X40 inch color prints in the basement. Many a night I would hit the darkroom at dusk and quit at dawn. I last worked in my home darkroom in 1995. The darkroom was doomed with the advent of digital cameras, deskjet printers that can print 13X19 inch photo quality, indexed digital photo albums, and, most importantly, finding the minimum required time to work in minutes rather than hours.I am a known pack rat hobbyist. I had kept the one-of-a-kind processing tank, the size of a small waterheater...hoping one day to get back into it…or find a good home for adoption. Surely someone would see the unique opportunity. Even the color enlarger was turned down by the local darkroom equipment dealer. “We have 3 just like it and no one is buying darkroom.” Then there was the homemade custom sink 24 by 90 inches and 5 feet tall. Unused for 10 years-it took up a large storage space.With much regret I threw the 40X10 tank and motorized agitator in the dumpster after there were no responses to classified ads. There were no takers for the sink. I was hoping to donate it to a school photolab. To avoid having to pay $100 just to have it hauled away I decided to take out some aggression with a sledge hammer. Then it was off to spend eternity by way of the River Styx, also known as a county dump station. This is a fate equal to death of that object of creation, that tool now so depreciated that it’s not even good firewood. In my unholy attachment…I had to take a few pictures with which to remember it. It said that if something wasn’t recorded for posterity then it may have never happened. So, now it is reduced to magnetic ink.-James

Tough talk

Why do football players go on television and give opposing teams tons of motivation? UT defenders made claims of superiority on the eve of the UT-Alabama annual match. True or not…what is gained by saying “we are better than they are at every position”?

• UT Line backer Steve Kiner was famous for a similiar remark. The Old Miss Rebels put a 38-0 whipping on the undefeated Vols after Kiner responded with "Archie Who?" when asked about him during the week leading up to the game.
• On another occasion someone was reputed to have said, "Those aren’t linebackers- them’s mules" (with unfortunate consequences).
• And finally there was the infamous 1979 lament, “what’s a Rutger?” Well the Scarlet Knights answered with a 13-7 victory.
  
  Poor mouthing your team in the fashion of Lou Holtz may be going too far in the opposite direction. Whatever happened to letting your on-field performance do your talking for you?

Egg on my face

What can I say? I admit when I am wrong. I came in on a work in progress.
At least I didn’t call “Don Dare on Our Side .” My track record as citizen activist is not good. I should have known this was going to straighten out. We Tennesseans love our highways. Some say we beat North Carolina and Virginia in the dubious highway to education expenditure ratio.

Second Opinion

Highway Engineer wanted for second opinion.
The 2 lane ribbon known as Northshore Drive gets over 20,000 vehicles per day according to KnoxNews.com. The artery is being repaved at night.
The new asphalt appears to have some imperfections. I am not an expert in hot mix asphalt but I do drive about 100 miles a day. Is the job done? Will there be another layer to smooth out the surface?

Actuarial Question

If, gas stays high for a while…or, forever,
And, folks start driving slower and safer;
Are we going to see fewer traffic accidents?
Will we see auto insurance rates come down?

Public Schools Throttled by Managed Care

The managed care of Medicine is about 15 to 20 years old. Care managers have entered hospital and consulting rooms to “monitor” the doctor-patient relationship. Utilization reviewers at the other end of an 800 number have veto power over tests, procedures, and operations. This is not news.

During the same era managed “care” has invaded the public schools. Mandatory meetings, testing, retesting, report writing, and steps to avoid ensnaring school systems in expensive lawsuits have taken away teachers’ direct instruction time with students. The education of our students has been blurred into a sort of social engineering. Schools often have to provide healthcare, parental support, day care, and 2 meals a day. If that is society’s desire then it ought to be funded so. The education bean counters want to reward teachers who are expert brown nosers. The politicians pass under-funded mandates such as “no child left behind” but those in the know call this “no child gets ahead.” It seems that little more than half of a teacher’s time is spent in direct instruction of pupils. Let the teachers be free to teach. --James