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[Tre Not-So-Cool*]

The Southern Scholar has a couple of posts today questioning the motives behind Bartlett Rep. Tre Hargett’s dubious behavior in the face of his move from representative to Pfizer lobbyist. With an ethics controversy already broiling, the Scholar wonders why more Republicans aren’t questioning Hargett’s motives. Original story here. *My apologies to Green Day fans for this title, but, alas, it had to be done.

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[Just try to see in the dark]

Stop reading here if you plan to see The Brothers Grimm. “I was the perfect guy to do ‘Harry Potter.’ I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus’ versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian…. I saw ‘War of the Worlds’ and I thought, Steven Spielberg is a man who makes brilliant scenes but can’t make a movie anymore.”…

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[It’s four in the morning, grandma, you win]

It’s four in the morning and I can’t stop watching BookTV. First it was the panel with an editor, an agent, and a publicist imparting book publishing secrets, then it was James Howard Kunstler talking about the imminent death of the middle class and suburban culture in The Long Emergency, and now it’s Scott Huler talking about his book, Defining the Wind, which is about the Beaufort Wind Scale and how it’s poetry and science…

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[Times, they are … suspiciously similar]1. “Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.” 2. “Bombing a sovereign nation for ill-defined reasons with vague objectives undermines the American stature in the world. The international respect and trust for America has diminished every time we casually let the bombs fly.” Spoken not by Cindy Sheehan or Sean Penn or any other crazy left-wing wacko war…

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Because every funeral should be a circus

I know the Phelps family and their silly Westboro Church is a joke to almost everyone with an intact frontal lobe, but it doesn’t make their blatant disrespect to the families of fallen soldiers any less painful. The Phelps clan will take its ilk to Middle Tennessee this weekend to protest the funerals of Staff Sgt. Asbury Fred Hawn of Smyrna and Spc. Gary Reese Jr. of Ashland City. Apparently, they’re on a funeral-picketing tour…

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[Sexism? I barely knowism!]In honor of the 19th Amendment’s 85th anniversary, Ellen Goodman has announced this year’s sexism awards. In case you’re one of those meat heads who still doesn’t understand why women are touchy about “rights” and “discrimination” and all sorts of issues you thought had long since been buried, this list is a quick primer. But I don’t know anyone who reads this blog who feels that way.

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[Baby’s brain and an old man’s heart]My brother turns 18 today. I called him a bit ago and it seems he has food poisoning or something. But he’s getting over it. (He seems to have a problem with getting ill-timed food poisoning; he had a major bout after my graduation dinner and ended up at the hospital.) His plans are to go to the high school football game tonight. Phil engineered a mixed CD for…

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[Strange things reside in old hard drives] 1. Things I learned from watching commercials. Oct. 24, 2004: + Social insecurity can be solved by Jif.+ Camera phones know how to find cool people.+ Plastic saves people’s lives. + “Strong” women stand on Mannington floors.+ The oak furniture salesman really cares about my financial well-being. 2. Stream of consciousness. 12:28 a.m. April 12, 2004. The books have me all figured out. I’m a grammatical elitist,A disaffected…

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[Pass the muster]Good morning. You’ll notice the timestamp has an “a.m.” in it that is not preceded by a 12, 1, or 2, which may frighten and confuse you. It certainly frightens and confuses me. My grandmother, who came to visit yesterday in anticipation of some Monday Memphis errands, just left a little bit ago, and I can’t go back to sleep. Our original plan was to get up at 8 and leave by 9…

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