Price gouging

With a hurricane bearing down on the Texas coast, it seems that gas stations have taken it upon themselves to predict the future and increase prices in preparation for whatever comes. In an ironic twist, it comes at the same time that the price of crude dropped below $100 a gallon (though it closed at just over %101). Fortunately, the Governor has seen fit to warn any who decide to make an extra buck off of this. It is one that I hope is followed up on. The instant rise in gas prices, unfortunatly, proves that pure laissez faire economics is not tennable. When given the opprotunity, some (most?) will manufacture reasoning to make a quick buck at the extreme and unreasonable expense of others. The ammounts seen in some areas (as high as 6 dollars a gallon) does not reflect what the market will bear. I am not a fan of government intervention, however in the face of obviously crooked business practices I feel this is warranted.

If things dont change by Tuesday, I might have to call in to work broke.

Petitions do work

Bluff City will now be voting on whether or not to recall the mayor and three aldermen this November. A local group got enough signatures on their petition to get a recall vote on the ballot. One of the aldermen in question, Malone, welcomes the vote. He said that the recall issue, which has been tried before but failed to meet a deadline, has been taking up too much time and this would settle the issue once and for all.

Washington County Tax vote

It seems like Washington Co. Tn will have a higher property tax after tonight. The commission meets to vote on a proposed 10 cent tax increase, most of which will go to the schools. That would bring the property taxes up to 2.45 out of every 100 dollars in value. The meeting is set for 6 in Jonesborough if you are interested in voicing your opinion.

Carter County v…Carter County?

First off, sorry for no news on Monday. Internet outages are very annoying.

Second, in the interim period David Davis conceded the election to Phil Roe. Whoever you support, atleast that is done with.

To the meat- It seems the Sheriff of Carter County, Chris Mathes, is suing the county for funds. Two separate studies, not conducted by the County or the Sheriffs Department, concluded that the department was seriously underfunded but the County refused to increase the budget. In 1982 the county voted for step increases in funding yet hasnt carried out its own order, so Sheriff Mathes is filing a writ of mandamus to force the Carter County commission to do so.

In somewhat related news, the County commission voted on two referendums to be considered for the November ballot. There will be a referendum on a tax increase, but there will not be a vote to decrease the number of seats on the council.

How long before the minutes of a meeting are posted?

I was away last week during the Johnson City Commission meeting and was going to take the time today to read the minutes. They dont seem to have been posted yet. Now, this could be because they havent been approved as yet, however they havent posted any minutes since May. Frustrating, it is.

Update to David “Monty Python” Davis

According to the Bristol Herald Courier, it is apparently against election law to cross the political lines during primaries. Just because the state does not require you to state your party affiliation does not mean that the primary is completely open. There is a regulation that states if a voters allegiance is in question the polling officials are to check the voters history to determine if they should be allowed to vote in the primary in question. This comes from Tennessee Code 2-7-115(b) (through the BHC…Im not a legal scholar). Though he technically has a point, it seems like that law would be nearly unenforceable, and outright impossible to enforce after the election is over. The hole he is digging keeps getting deeper and deeper.

Tuesday night edition: Part the Second

David Davis is taking cues from Monty Python. Remember Monty Python and the Holy Grail? There was a scene where they were bringing out the victims of the black death and one guy keeps claiming he isnt dead yet. Thats the guy David Davis is copying. He was defeated in the primary last week and cannot accept it. He is claiming “outside organizations” conspired against him. His challenger, Phil Roe, defeated him by over 400 votes and Davis has contacted a law firm to attempt to “protect the sanctity of the voting process.” Those are the facts as presented by the Johnson City Press and News Channel 5 WCYB. (when I figure out how to link in this thats what Ill do, till then the above is how Im going to cite a source…my apologies)

Now for the opinion section (you cant count the bit about Monty Python, that was purely a hook, I swear): The last time I checked, Tennessee was a state that had open primaries. How could there be an illegal conspiracy by organizations other than the Republican party when anyone can legally vote in the primary? Im sure its true that others, be they democrats or members of third parties, decided they would vote in the primary. That is completely legal, and in my mind morally acceptable as well. To me, this looks like a desperate grasp at straws to save a political career and is absurd on its face.

Tuesday night edition: Part 1

Most will be on topic but some will be random due to the Olympics and international news (both of which have been eating up significantly more of my time than usual).

First, the international news. The situation between Georgia (not our neighbor to the south) and Russia has been tense to say the least; and deadly if you are in Georgia. My stance is not a popular one, as I actually think Russia was in the right initially. They were supporting a state that had voted to be independent multiple times. There were peace keepers there that were killed by Georgian artillery. Im not saying all the facts are in, and Im not saying Russia was in the right after they pushed Georgia out of South Ossetia and kept going, but I do question why we automatically jumped to the aid of the group that fired first in an apparent attempt at suppressing the right of a people to define their own identity.
We supported the people of Kosovo and their right of self government on far less of an argument than the South Ossetians have. Its just not logical to me…I know its probably realpolitik, but I thought we had moved past Bismarkian diplomacy. Apparently I was wrong.

On a positive international note; this is one of the best Olympics I can remember. The opening ceremony was impressive, and somewhat intimidating. That said, they still didnt beat Barcelona for the lighting of the cauldron (that was the one where the guy shot a FLAMING ARROW). Phelps is an insane swimmer. He must be the product of a Jurassic Park-esque experiment that combined human dna and that of a prehistoric dolphin or something. The mens gymnasts were both impressive and surprising…apparently they were not supposed to do make the finals and they pulled out a bronze medal.

Ok, on to part 2…its local news.

Unsettling news from abroad

I dont know who else has been paying attention to the Georgia-Russia thing, but its very disconcerting. A state that declared independence nearly 20 years ago is now being invaded. It actually looks like the Russians might be the good guys in this fight to defend South Ossetian rights. Of course, we are backing Georgia…

A few days back Georgia shelled the capitol of South Ossetian, killing some Russians. Now both sides are sending in troops. There are reports of Russians bombing Georgian airbases.

I need more information before deciding for sure, but thats what it looks like at the moment. I just hope this doesnt devolve into a full blown war.

Traffic Cameras everywhere

Knoxville, Morristown and Jonesborough are all trying to push new traffic camera projects. The Knoxville project ran into some opposition, but it seems Morristown and Jonesborough are all skating by. Am I the only one worried about automated systems issuing citations? I understand the need to stop people from running red lights and curb speeding, however I have reservations to automated systems. There seems to me to be a rather wide margin for abuse with such a setup. It also is a possible open door for more widespread use of a CCTV system, ala London. I think there would be a few steps in between, but it seems to be the beginnings of a logical progression to me.

Anyone have thoughts on this?