Pal's "Flash" Gallery
Recent Entries
It’s back! The Historic Steele Creek Train
Congratulations to the Fun Fest Treasure Trackers Winner
Traveling Obama: Unfair Coverage?
TN Employees Face Job Cuts, but Fulmer Gets a Pay Raise
Back from the edge: The Bristol Train Station
How you can be a “Treasure Tracker” during Fun Fest
How you can be a “Treasure Tracker” during Fun Fest
The “Friends of Festus” Winner
Happy Birthday Rob! It’s the big 4-0!
Monthly Archives
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
RSS Feeds
11
$1 million pay raise for TVA’s CEO
Nov 30, 2007
As you cringe at the thought of your winter season heat bill, consider this: the boss at the TVA, our region’s main power provider, is about to get a $1 million pay raise.
According to the Associated Press, “ The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Board of Directors on Thursday approved a new incentive-based executive pay plan that could boost President and CEO Tom Kilgore’s compensation from about $1.7 million this year to $2.7 million.”
The AP report does cut Kilgore some slack. Kilgore got promoted to the top TVA job more than a year ago and asked his pay stay the same, according to the AP. And get this. The AP reports, “Virginia-based consultants Watson Wyatt & Co. had recommended an $800,000 base salary and a total package worth $2.9 million, based on comparable investor-owned utilities that pay their CEO’s $5.3 million to $5.9 million.”
What do you think about a pay raise for the head of the TVA?
Posted by Josh Smith Outlaw spanking?
Nov 29, 2007
Kids, rejoice!
Some Massachusetts lawmakers want to outlaw spanking. They feel the discipline technique is abusive, and they want abuse to always be illegal.
Best I can tell, this doesn’t deal solely with spanking in schools or in Wal-Mart bathrooms or at a rest area along a busy interstate. The proposed legislation focuses on spanking at home.
My parents were avid spankers - nay, professionalsy - who were firmly convinced that a little pain immediately after a blatant act of disobedience was a good thing. The spanking was never done in anger. It was just one of those “black and white” “you get what you deserve” “A+B=C” deals. That was little comfort to me and my brother, though, so we tried to hide Daddy’s belt over and over again. Then we figured out that wasn’t a good idea. They just grabbed a hair brush or a big mixing spoon. Double OUCH!
I have a good friend who’s a great mom. But during a recent conversation about out kids - you know, the kind parents always have when they get together - she welled up in tears at the very thought of spanking her child. I know her kid; he’s great even without spankings.
So what do you think? Should governments outlaw spanking at home? Do you think spanking is a good idea?
Posted by Josh Smith Crossing the picket line?
Nov 28, 2007
As the writer’s strike continues, one of the late-night talk shows is about to go back into production. Here’s the report from AP.
NEW YORK (AP) - NBC’s “Last Call with Carson Daly” is about to become the first late- night talk show to defy the writers strike and resume production. Daly, who is not a member of the Writers Guild, will begin taping new episodes of his Burbank-based show this week for airing next week, an NBC spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
The half-hour “Last Call” airs at 1:35 a.m. EST weeknights, but whether Daly’s first new episode would air next Monday or Tuesday was initially unclear. No guests were disclosed.
What do you think of Daly’s decision? Since he’s not in the union, he’s not exactly crossing any picket lines. But some, no doubt, will question his decision and, likely, his loyalties.
My grandmother was in a union. She worked for decades at a Bristol dress manufacturer, a hard job done mostly by women who spent the entire day on their feet in hot warehouse-like plants. I vividly remember when they went on strike in the early 1970’s. It got ugly, and the people who “crossed the picket line” endured a healthy dose of wrath from their co-workers and, sad to say, former friends.
What do you think of Daly’s decision? Have you ever been in a strike and been faced with a decision of whether or not to cross the picket line?
Posted by Josh Smith What do you think of Ron Paul?
Nov 27, 2007
Who’s Ron Paul, you ask?
That’s a question people are posing less frequently today than were, say, a month ago. The Republican Presidential candidate recently shattered single day fundraising records and stunned the political world.
Paul, described by pundits as a bona fide Libertarian, is firmly anti-war and anti-"big government.” For a growing number of Americans, that appears to be an appealing combination.
I’ve yet to hear the commentators put Paul in the upper tier of GOP nomination contenders. But that hasn’t stopped the army of Ron Paul supporters from grassroot campaigning and from giving generously to the Paul campaign.
I’ll put it this way: I haven’t seen any other candidates’ supporters standing at Tri-Cities street corners with signs and information pamphlets. A couple of weeks ago, I saw Ron Paul supporters at the busy entrance to Wal-Mart in Elizabethton. That’s dedication and devotion that even the richest campaigns can’t buy.
Have you heard of Ron Paul? Share your opinions on the candidate or the campaign in general.
Posted by Josh Smith Happy Birthday Donna Joy
Nov 26, 2007We’re a bit late, but Happy “Sweet 16th” Birthday anniversary to Donna Joy Vance of Rogersville, Tennessee.
I hope you got to see Amber Miller’s story Sunday, a story we replayed Monday morning on News Channel 11 Morning Edition.
Donna Joy’s mother says, 16 years ago, she was told her unborn daughter would be born with an under-developed brain and that pregnancy termination was the “merciful” option. But Lori Vance told us that she felt that decision didn’t belong to her.
With a lot of care and a lot of love, Donna Joy is living a full life today. She faces some limitations, but they don’t define her life.
Some will point to Donna Joy as an example of why humans shouldn’t make decisions about whether unborn babies live or die. Others will say that Donna Joy’s mom had the freedom to choose her daughter’s fate, and that freedom should never be taken away.
My opinion? It doesn’t really matter what I think. But I’m increasing convinced that every life has a meaning that transcends biology, an invisible essence that can’t be contained in or by cells or tissue or brain function or physical mobility. In other words, we all have a soul. In light of this and in the presence of Donna Joy, I think we have reason to exercise extreme caution when assessing our ability to decide who lives and for how long.
Woa! That’s pretty deep for a Monday morning.
Happy Birthday, Donna Joy.
Posted by Josh Smith 
