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June 01, 2011
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Today's Buzz

Quote Of The Day  

 

George Carlin 


Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies,    

insecticided grain,

For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.

America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,

And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.

~George Carlin

 

   

 

 

____________________  

 

The Tennessee Young Democrats State Convention  

 

June 11

 

Lebanon, TN 

 Register here. 

 

The Last Mountain

"The Last Mountain" - Official Trailer
 

On June 9th, Robert Kennedy Jr. will be screening the film The Last Mountain at the Belcourt Theater in Nashville.

 

From the presser at the Belcourt's website:

 

Focusing on the devastating effects of mountaintop coal removal in West Virginia's Coal River Valley, filmmaker Bill Haney illustrates the way residents and activists are standing up to the industry and major employer that is so deeply embedded in the region. With strong support from Bobby Kennedy Jr. and grassroots organizations, awareness is rising in the battle over Appalachian mountaintop mining. Forces are aligning to prevent coal removal on Coal River Mountain and preserve the region's precious natural resources. Superb storytelling and exquisite photography combine to remind us that this environmental calamity impacts us all.  

 

If you don't think that Tennessee is being impacted by mountaintop removal, let's revisit legislation introduced by Sen. Eric Stewart from March of this year that was unfortunately defeated on party lines and several posts from Memphis blogger Steve Ross on the subject.

 

 As Elizabethton Pastor John Shuck from the blog Shuck and Jive writes the only way that everyone, not only Tennesseans, can fight the destruction of mountains in Appalachia is to talk about it and recognize what is going on.

 

Bobby Kennedy Jr. will discuss the issue of mountaintop removal with the audience. Tickets are available here. 

 

 

 
Elections, Education And Spin

 

 

  • Remember when we said yesterday that campaigns are going to be created this summer. Case in point: Tomeka Hart is going to take on Rep. Steve Cohen in 2012. Blogger Steve Steffens questions the decision. LINK 
  • The boasting and political spin by GOP Leaders in Jeff Wood's post legislative session story in The City Paper is interesting. LINK 
  • Gov. Bill Haslam says teachers will be able to deal with larger classrooms. All-Righty then. One student said not so true, Governor. "East Ridge High School student Ja'Keena Dillard told the governor that a "lot of teacher cuts" in Hamilton County schools already are causing rising ratios of teachers to students and the situation will likely worsen."We see that as a problem," she said. "Teachers aren't able to spend quality time with us."' LINK 
  • Rep. Craig  Fitzhugh says the word of the last session that was used the most was mandate in a spirited piece called The 4 Pillars of The New Majority. This article has been making the rounds online. LINK 
  • The Wonderful and Wacky World of being a lobbyist. Interesting quote from House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick. LINK 

 


Trace Sharp

tracesharp@gmail.com

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