BiddiesInMyBrain

Cyber Bullying by the Memphis Police Department

Check out this article about the Memphis Police Department's attempt to crack down on a website that is critical of the police director, MPD policies and staff. The City has actually joined in on this and filed suit to find out who the anonymous blogger is behind the site, which, while admittedly edgy, does not use data other than what is available through anything but the public record or the rumor mill in the MPD. (the blogger's site can be found here). Can anyone say First Amendment?? Just because Larry Godwin doesn't like what is being said about him and about his force does not mean that he can file suit to shut down a website which is saying things that are legal (though sometimes in bad taste... the Asshole of the Month thing is a little borderline, but I see where it's coming from).

Meanwhile, the main blogger, who posts under the amusing name Dirk Diggler, has retained an attorney, Paul Levy, who is part of a Washington DC-area group called Public Citizen Litigation Group, and he is seeking to quash the attempts by the MPD to obtain the name(s) of the bloggers - and to find the legal basis for the Director Godwin's witchhunt. (read more here and another good one here at the Memphis Flyer)

This is nothing more than another example of how the top administration in this city has collectively gone plumb out of its cotton-pickin' mind. Power plays by Hizzoner the Mayor Willie Herenton over the Superintendency of the School Board, the City Council's petulant move to cut funding for the City Schools, the ongoing fraud investigations (and convictions) within upper echelons, and now this... it really makes me wonder what on earth they think they are doing up there in their marble towers. They aren't living in the real world, and they see threats where there aren't any.

And now they are attempting to shut down a vital section of the internet simply because they can't take the heat from some anonymous blogger who believes a little honesty in public service is a good thing. Larry, you've really gone over the top... I believe our police force - the men and women who patrol our neighborhood - are decent, honest people; I have met many, many of them by stopping them on my street and chatting for a moment while they are on patrol. They are friendly, helpful and kind when needed... and they do their job well in an area where solid policing is a necessity. But I just don't know about the upper echelons. Some of the people I have worked with - Sgts, Lieuts... even a Captain or two - have been overwhelmingly responsive to the needs of the community. But there are clearly some bad eggs... and I am now wondering seriously if that bad policing doesn't start with the top. Certainly this boneheaded move does not speak well of the good judgement we expect from officers... and bespeaks of vendettas and personal feelings getting in the way of being bigger and better than the words on the screen.

This smells like a rat... and bloggers everywhere should be paying close attention to what is happening here in Memphis. Such an unlikely venue... yet the repercussions of the decisions that come out of this case could have a chilling effect on all of us.

I'll try to update as often as I can about it... but in the meantime, please make sure to be vigilant, too. This is nothing to sneeze at. Larry Godwin and the City of Memphis are dead serious in this threat - and we should be dead serious about opposing it.

What a chilling state of affairs for us all.

ADDENDUM: Thanks, Ms. Theologian, for pointing out this website: cyberSLAPP, which deals with frivolous suits of this type that threaten to chill the internet's basis in free speech and the right to anonymity.

Happy Fourth!

In honor of the Fourth of July, I am dedicating my blog entry to Mercy Otis Warren, a long-forgotten, but recently resurrected Founding Mother of our nation. We hear a lot about the men who "put it together" but rarely, if ever, hear about the truly amazing women who answered the call of freedom in ways that transcended the bounds of gender - and often propriety - to help found our country.

In Warren's Observations on the New Constitution, and on the Federal and State Conventions cited in the article below, she has some tart observations. Particularly of note is item thirteen: "A Senate chosen for six years will, in most instances, be an appointment for life, as the influence of such a body over the minds of the people will be coequal to the extensive powers with which they are vested, and they will not only forget, but be forgotten by their constituents — a branch of the Supreme Legislature thus set beyond all responsibility is totally repugnant to every principle of a free government." Did she get it right, or what?

See the WONDERFUL review of a book about her on the most recent Beacon Broadside. The book appears to be truly worth checking out, and is going on my wish list now!

AWESOME Picture... and a Warning for Travelers (Including Me)

You can bet I will be thinking *very* carefully about the weather as we head across the prairies and plains this summer... looking out for severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (found this spectacular image at www.KSN.com, btw). Speaking of amazing tornado shots, check this from the Weather Channel: Yikes! (I'm having some problems with Typepad's linking service on the Compose Post page, which is why you are getting full URLs at times. It's intermittently working, and we hope to be up and fully functional soon... bear with me!).

Today we had a really amazing storm - nothing like what they have been seeing on the Plains, but lots of thunder and lots of heavy rain and a REALLY DARK HOUSE at 3:30 in the afternoon ... SPOOKY!... I am hoping it didn't wash out ALL of our grass seed from two days ago; the seed is now in clumps in puddles, puddles which are quickly absorbing back into the ground. I tried to get out there with a rake, but things are just too wet. We've pretty well decided to see if this will sprout, and then if it does, to overseed again at midsummer to catch any bare spots. I think it's the best we can hope for at this point.

Still plugging away on homework... interesting books, but it's a holiday weekend and I wish that I would have gotten this done earlier this week. If wishes were dollars...

Been having major problems with the DSL modem... ordered a new one yesterday from AT&T high speed services, so we should be cooking with a much better, much faster connection this time next week. Our current modem is ... hmmm... five years old and seems to be giving up the ghost. We're going with a modem/wireless gateway with wireless-n capability. We'll see how this works; I hate getting away from my Linksys router - I've been really loyal to Linksys and their magnificently reliable equipment. Like I said, we'll see.

SO MUCH TO DO before the 4th... and so much to do before the 12th/13th... everything is just smooshed together and it is hard to separate out what needs doing now, what needs doing this week, and what must be accomplished next week... Lists are my friends.

Well, I am going to scoot and see how much reading I can fly through tonight. I'm well into one of the books, and about a quarter of the way through the second one. I think I need to write them up separately, but am pondering it carefully... there are some commonalities, but they may be too different to pull them together in one paper. The last thing I want to do is write something contrived for a professor I really like... and besides - when I write a good paper the discussions end up being much better and more interesting, so I have extra incentive to put a lot more effort into the front end. Means a lot of work this weekend... which means flying through a lot of pages tonight and tomorrow and synthesizing them tomorrow night.

Have a good one!

Just So You Know I'm Not the Only One...

...thinking that the mayor is looney tunes. I think Wendi Thomas is *right* on-track with this brilliant column from this past Sunday. I couldn't figure where on earth to cut it, so you get it in its entirety, with the caveat that you must, must, must credit Wendi Thomas with this wonderful bit of journalistic fortitude. I think I am in love.

From the Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, all rights reserved to them:

Herenton, Whalum in business of distractions

By Wendi C. Thomas (Contact)
Sunday, April 20, 2008

Apparently craziness, like misery, loves company.

Witness our latest pair of elected loonies -- Mayor Willie Herenton and Memphis City Schools board member Rev. Kenneth Whalum Jr.

Over the last few weeks, Herenton had the city by its collective tender bits when he threatened to remain mayor, and not resign in July as he'd indicated he would, unless he was handed the job of city schools superintendent. Now, he says he doesn't want the job he held from 1979 to 1991 because of the big, bad media.

In a letter to Whalum, Herenton wrote: "I regret that local media have highly politicized my sincere interest in helping the Memphis City Schools overcome its present challenges.

"Despite my passion for public education, I cannot consider becoming an applicant for the schools' superintendent position at this time."

Whalum, who never met a position on which he couldn't take a combative stance, wanted the board to abandon its search for a new superintendent. He even submitted Herenton's name to the firm charged with doing a national search.

Unlike Whalum, the rest of the school board has not indicated any interest in throwing good sense to the wind and giving Herenton an opportunity to replicate the cronyism at board headquarters that he has birthed at City Hall. The board is sticking by its decision to look far and wide for a superintendent.

Meanwhile, Whalum is sticking fast to his tactic of being a rebel on the board, which is good for nothing but TV sound bites.

"I think it's very unfortunate that my colleagues, apparently, cannot get past the mayor's personality," said a grinning Whalum on WMC-TV Channel 5's news Friday -- as if the board was ignoring the best choice just because Herenton can occasionally be prickly.

Come again?

Actually, don't come again. Instead, go. Now, please.

To be sure, Herenton's personality is a problem. He is arrogant and antagonizing, and in increasingly unnecessary ways.

I mean, did he have to say that he ran for a fifth term because he had to protect the city from the alternatives, challengers Carol Chumney and Herman Morris?

Of course he didn't.

But he must get a high from creating drama and drawing attention to himself. And if so, he's been higher than he'd like our property taxes to be.

But worse than his personality is his lack of leadership.

Remember Herenton's stunning display of compassion following the killings of the six people on Lester Street?

Of course you don't. In the days of communitywide grieving after that horrible March day, Herenton was not to be found.

Remember the fine example Herenton set by making sure his taxes were paid on time before he suggested a 17 percent property tax increase?

Of course you don't. Because Herenton couldn't even be bothered to pay months-late taxes until his tardy trifling was exposed last week.

Remember how Herenton held a press conference to declare the last thing he'd ever recommend is closing libraries and community centers because what we need are more places for children to play safely and more places for citizens to expand their minds, not fewer?

You don't remember that either, because instead, Herenton wants to shutter five libraries and four community centers.

It's like the soap opera that never ends, and we're stuck with a TV with one channel -- all Herenton drama, all the time.

It's been rumored that Whalum has mayoral aspirations, but when I've queried him, he's been coy, acknowledging only that others have suggested he seek the city's highest office.

I'm not sure if Whalum and Herenton have entered into some unholy pact that ends with Herenton back at the school district and Whalum on a path to City Hall.

But I do know this -- right now, both of them serve primarily as distractions from the business of improving the city and its schools.

The two are just bizarre enough to deserve each other, but Memphis deserves better.

Contact Wendi C. Thomas at (901) 529-5896 or e-mail thomasw@commercialappeal.com.

Schmasthma

Well, that's the attitude I am trying to take towards the asthma, anyway. I'm well into my yellow zone (my yellow zone is between 200-375, and I am right at 300) - but it's been many, many years since that has happened, and I can't remember what to do except take my albuterol. I think I need to refill my azmacort and start back on that full time for a couple of weeks until the seasonal allergies calm down. But in the meantime, I am wheezing and coughing my way through life. I sound like a bad pump bellows on a pipe organ.

But.

I am having a reasonably good day (once you discount the usual morning discomfort and all) and I have the rest of it to myself to get studying and grading done. Only one more round of grading after this and I will be DONE DONE DONE with the grading and only have my own work to concentrate on.

Have decided to take on teaching first half American history this fall, if I can pull the time slots. Means I will be teaching in the evenings again, I suspect, but that worked out better for me than did the daytime teaching. I hate morning classes, and there are *very* few afternoon classes for undergrads - and they conflict with the times the classes *I* need to take are offered. So, it's back to night classes (they're my faves, anyway). Will need to check the time on *one* more class before I commit to that schedule, though. It will be a good challenge for me... I need to teach that time period to really feel comfortable with it (it is, after all, my first minor field), and the opportunity is there. Voila.

Had a mild thunderstorm pass through here a while ago and the temps went back down into the 60s (from 87)... but now they are climbing again. I've had the windows open the whole time - the rain came down perfectly vertically with no wind, so I just enjoyed the smell of fresh, moist earth and the sound of large, mushy raindrops. It was delightful.

Have I told you lately just how much I love Levenger? They're a tad on the upscale side of things, but dang - I've never had better customer service in my life. Their products seem to be made for bibliophiles to drool over - and they last for forever despite the drool and constant petting of soft, supple leather (I love their paper products and home office supplies, too... just amazing). If only I could kit out my house with their products exclusively. Oh MY would I be happy. And have I told you their customer service is unmatched?? ::grin::

I want to pat myself on the back and brag for a moment, though. Will you indulge me? I was in kind of a funk on Saturday and decided to check the mail. As y'all know, mail is a crapshoot - you never know what it will bring - more often than not, it's junk or misdelivered. However, when I went up front to look there was this large, stiff envelope with my name on it - and I had NO CLUE what it was. So, thinking it was a scam, I opened it with some frustration and none to carefully. Out fell a beautiful certificate, a lapel pin, a sticker for my car and a letter... from an honor society to which I had applied MONTHS ago (like December or January?). I figured they had forgotten about me when I hadn't heard anything from them for so long... and I had kinda forgotten about them too. Well, ::embarrassed:: I read the letter and it said that due to the "outstanding quality" of my "entire body of work" they were awarding me with a lifetime membership in this honor society ... and had waived the lifetime membership fee - all fees, actually. AND, they have left my application with the scholarship committee. ::blushing:: I didn't think my application was *that* good - and clearly they are unaware of the work I have been doing this semester! But dang. I am humbled and gobsmacked. ::grinning:: Thus ends the shameless plug and brag.

Speaking of schoolwork, I am only taking one incomplete - in the GIS class - and I hope to have it cleared by the end of May. Everything else should be done by the middle of next week, if not sooner. The Directed Readings prof is giving me my grade for the work I have done so far, and will be working with me this summer on the readings we haven't completed, moving towards comps... and I am finishing now the work for the Gender in American Politics class - I will have that complete by the end of the week, I think - barring that, then early next week. Much relief ensues.

Met with the Directed Readings prof and, while I did not cry, my voice did crack when I told him I didn't think my work was NEARLY the quality I was capable of performing and I didn't want him to grade me on the work completed thus far - that I wanted the incomplete. He was stunned - said no, he felt my work was fine, and that he intended to assign me an 'A' and that we would continue to work all summer, it that's fine with me. It is just perfect. Really. I also talked with him about my mental illness issues and having to go off Prozac cold turkey ... first time I have ever discussed that with a professor of mine, but I did want him to understand that there has been a very real, chemical reason I have been unable to function the past two weeks. Thankfully, he understood more than I could possibly have realized. Great guy - and I respect him immensely.

Gotta run... phone call.

::::CONFETTI::::

Hey! 30,031 visitors!!! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN??

::dancing:: Ya'll love me (or at least you click on me when you're bored!)

THANKS!!

Brrrr... I'm Cold Despite the Warm Temps...

But yanno what? I feel actually *good* this afternoon. :::glancing around for threat of lightning:::

I'm getting a lot done, I am alert and reasonably pain-free... and it's a gorgeous, sunny day. It's in the upper 70s right now, with a cool breeze, and I am bundled up in a sweatshirt and I am thinking about gloves... but other than that, I am really, really feeling good.

::smiling:: I have another rose blooming. I am guessing Spring is here. And there are just thousands of buds on the 32 bushes and climbers - I think the next bloomer is going to be a yellow tea rose - I can already see the yellow bursting through the bud. I'll take a pic as soon as it comes. There are *tiny* fig buds on the trees - I mean TINY - they are about half the size of my little fingernail. Took a bunch of pics today, but haven't pulled them off the camera yet. Will post when I do.

Feel a great sense of relief now that my Medical Power of Attorney and Advance Care Plan are in place and safely put away (and I have e-mailed pdf copies to the relevant people who will need it). They know where to find it in the house, and they are well aware of my wishes. I was very melancholy about this this weekend - weepy even - but now that I have gone and done it, I feel much, much better. I suspect it will be the same way about the Will, which will be considerably more complicated, but will feel much better all said and done.

Put up baby gates so the dog can't get to the front of the house and on Grandma's furniture. I found some really nice ones on Amazon for $30 a piece, and they are gated instead of static, so we don't have to climb over them. Jen is ok with them (they at least allow her to *see* the living room, unlike the flimsy boards we had up)... but the cats are really pissed off about them, and are protesting vigorously. I have put "steps" on either side of one of them so they can jump over them, but they are *very* skeptical and want the gates *GONE.* ::rolling eyes:: They are such prima donnas.

Picked up a very inexensive copy of 1000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die from Amazon... ordered it yesterday afternoon and somehow got it today. Go figure! I figure since we will be traveling cross country this summer we had might as well take some minor detours here and there, if anything is on the way. Might be fun to see what we have seen that they consider essential, too. Worth the conversation while driving, anyway.

Can I tell you just how much I love Levenger?? They are the most amazing vendor I have ever dealt with. I had a minor problem with an order that arrived yesterday - a purse I have been coveting - which arrived with something unexpected in it. I let them know about it, and that while it wasn't a dealbreaker or anything, I felt they needed to know about it. I *love* the purse... and have made it MINE MINE MINE... (I feel like Gollum) - it's the first purse of any sort I have bought in like... ten or twelve years... and it is made out of this incredibly supple leather and it is just.. OMG it is just... :::drool:::. Well, they wanted me to be *perfectly* happy and before I knew it, they had sent me a brand new purse and want me to send the other one back. I am sending the replacement one back... I don't have the heart to unload my Gollum-Precious... I am already so attached to it... but they are so determined to make it right that they are bending over backwards. This is one of my all-time favorite catalog stores for family and close friend gifts, but this? This puts them over the top. Order from them if you can. Their service and care - not to mention the legendary quality of their products - will blow you away.

OK. I need to get back to my school work. But I am just ... happy tonight. And I wanted to share it. I haven't felt happy since before Spring Break - the last time I can pinpoint it was early on the day of my birthday, February 27, *before* the plumber discovered the mess that was the hell of last month.

Happy is good.

WOW

Hadn't checked in a while, but my blog ticker is getting ready to switch to 30,000 visitors in the next few weeks. I can't believe you guys are still here, peering through the cracks!! Thanks for all your support and love - and crankiness sometimes, too - you keep me humble and on track.

Oh, and only one person e-mailed me pointing out during the NCAA men's basketball tourney that I didn't have a category for sports, just current affairs and television. LOL I wondered if any of y'all would pick up on that! Every once in a long while I think I have gotten away with something, but then... one of you always snags the reference or picks up on the sidle and ... there. I've been caught. ::giggle:: I love it.

::smooches::

Cinderella Don't Do Tats

You have simply got to read this article by John Walters of NBC Sports. He says it better than I can why I am rooting for this team, for these guys, at this time.

Every one of you players has your own Cinderella story, and I am so very proud of you for making it this far!

Cinderella DO do Tats!

Go Tigers!!! RAWR!!!

Random Update

OK, so I'm a little jot and tiddle late with the news and wanderings:

Men's basketball at the U of M advanced to the finals last night!!! We're playing Kansas on Monday night. Oh my! GO TIGERS! RAWR! The neighborhood burst into absolute lunacy when the final buzzer went off, and there was a strong police presence around the University District, including MOUNTED POLICE! They were so cool! AND, I am not certain about this, but at least I haven't heard of any reports of outbreaks of violence in the area following either Final Four game. Now it's wait-and-see until Monday. ::biting nails:: I just never expected to turn into a hoops fan. ADDENDUM: The undergrad class for which I am grading has just been canceled for tomorrow - the prof is wise, knowing that NOBODY will be there - at all - and we are scheduled to be covering the run up to the Civil War - crucial material. YAY, though!!! Means I only have two commitments tomorrow - spread out by one at 8:45 in the morning and one at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Charlton Heston has died. All I am wondering is: can we pry his guns from his cold, dead hands and turn them in to the police for destruction now?? And, as one of my dearest friends said, his best ever line was "MOSES! There's a man among the sheep!"

Another friend and lovely, sweet, dear person (all our friends are that way! Love it!) M stopped by midway through the game yesterday and watched the second half of the game with us. She may be moving into the n-hood - we are so excited and hopeful. It would be a WONDERFUL thing. Anyway, we went out to dinner (yeah, we found someplace quiet, with minimal tv and lunatic fan interruption - a favorite Chinese/Japanese restaurant), and had a terrific time. I had the best egg drop soup *evah* - this is the kind of chicken-broth-egg-drop-and-corn-soup that I crave when I am sick... it's even better than my own homemade chicken noodle stuff, and I am blatantly and hopelessly and egotistically biased toward my homemade soups. Too bad we didn't have much of a cold winter - I would have made so many more.

See GI doc in the morning. Maybe we can move forward with all this nuisance tummy stuff. I have written a LONG one-page single-spaced summary of the past two weeks in 11-point font for them - something I hope will help more than just the usual Q&A. (Heh. It just dawned on me that as a historian I can't manage to write something in less than a two-page double spaced paper. LOL) We've also been cutting out all lactose-bearing products we can think of, too, so Crash is buying me soy milk - the Costco brand - and it actually tastes great on my cereal... yay!

Reading a wonderful book right now - expressively written and extremely well researched - called No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith written by dear mentor and friend, Dr. Janann Sherman. I never expected to love an academic book so much - but I do, and if you ever want to know more about the first woman to run for president on a major party ticket, you simply must read this (not to mention that she was the person who stood down McCarthy in the Senate, and she was the primary force lobbying for women's rights in the military in the 1940s-1970s, etc, etc, etc... really remarkable person). The book is academic, yes, but it reads like a really good novel... just carries you. I keep forgetting to take notes, I am THAT engrossed in the reading. Serious thumbs up, y'all. I think it's in its third printing now.

Don't know much else. There is plenty on Google News and Beacon Broadside to rant about, but I have too much to do today to sit here and rant at the moment... though I promise to get back to that in the next month or so - school's out at the end of this month. I love school, but *cannot wait* to breathe a little more.

Windows are wide open and I am enjoying the cool breeze while still in my sexy white cotton jammies. Yeah... sexy white cotton - those words *can* go together. ::giggle:: At least Crash thinks so!! Speaking of white cotton jammies: I slept like a log last night - 1:00 a.m. to 1:00 pm today and was *very* confused when Crash woke me up after church - I thought he had not yet left and was gobsmacked when he told me it was 1 pm. LOL I don't think I moved once from about 4 in the morning until I got up this afternoon... I needed the sleep, I guess!

Back to this book. I may finish it in my second sitting today - I read in bed until - literally - I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. You can only fight a sleeping pill so long when you're snuggled in comfortably. ::looking forward to THIS!::

Have a great afternoon! I may see you again after Crash's choir performance tonight (I'm expecting good stuff!) but if not, I'll catch you sometime tomorrow... quite likely after the game if not before as well.

ADDENDUM!: I FORGOT!!! I judged the finals for TN State History Day yesterday, and MY were they terrific!!! So proud of all the participants, and it was really hard judging first round - and the runoff judges really struggled over their choices. That's a *good* thing, y'all. GO, YOU BUDDING YOUNG HISTORIANS! YOU JUST GO!!!