Free idea for UT's Events Committee

Apparently Chris Hitchens was in town, speaking at the UC on UT campus. Unfortunately, the university underestimated the enormous crowd that would appear and many unhappy campers couldn't see him speak.

So how about an overflow area or feed -- even a PPV one online? You could raise some money, raise awareness, etc. Perhaps rules of a lecture circuit prohibit this.

Of course, UT could flip the idea. Bring in people who don't usually do lecture circuits, and broadcast their talks online, ala TED.

Just an idea.

Great talk about interviewing with Channel 6

If you haven't already, check out Justusleeg.com, who put together a tweetup last night at the Downtown Brewery. A couple of anchors from channel 6, WATE were there; Gene Patterson and Kristin Farley, along with another gentleman whose name I didn't get.

Anyway, they gave a great, informal talk about interviewing. I spent 2 years in journalism at UT in the 90's and not once did we discuss this stuff. It was great. Thanks to Patrick and Brian and the gang for doing cool stuff!

No Google Wave for me, here's why

A couple of years ago I traveled to Google's HQ in famed Silicon Valley (actually Mountain View, CA). My traveling companion and I had gorged ourselves at a place in front of Apple, then been treated to a big meal at Yahoo, and were simply stuffed. When we got to Google, they offered us juice. We declined.

So I declined the Google juice. I think they took offense. Thus, despite having some pretty compelling reasons to test Wave, not only did I not get an invite, I can't even get the invites people who DID get invites are trying to send (in my gmail, of course).

Figures. Next time I'll drink the damn juice.

Lemme tell you about government health care...

Yesterday I took my son, little brother and his friend to the Knox County Health Department on Dameron Ave. to get flu shots. Well, in fact, since everyone else was 18 or younger, they got the flu mist (now in short supply) and I got a shot. Ow.

So we rolled in with no appointment and were done within 2 hours. Yeah, that's a long wait, but honestly not too much worse than some of the waits I've had at my regular doctor. And yes, I have private insurance through my employer that is totally awesome.

Instead of going to my regular doctor I went to the county. Why? It was easier. Read on.

Try getting college kids excited about a flu vaccination. Or my littlest son, who has already had a taste of the Dark Side of medical treatment. He's a trooper with shots, however, getting 4 immunizations over a month ago with nary a tear. He and I and my brother all got in a room and were done within minutes. This was after a long wait, but again, we all rolled in off the street with no appointment, and close to closing time at that.

In the waiting room I saw people from all walks of life. Young, old, with lots of kids with no kids, seemingly well off and those clearly not so monied. And there we sat, waiting for the government to distribute a vaccination. To some, this scene must send chills up their spine. I mean, here's the very worst of their fears come to life, yes? Affordable, available health care to anyone wiling to show up.

Yes, only in America would we protest our ability to share. Only here, in the most bountiful and powerful nation-state seen in the past 1,000 years, would we have people so obsessed and fearful of losing even one dollar to the unwashed peasants. Heck, we've gone so far in some cases as to rationalize greed with Christianity.

But really, what would Jesus do? Would he say that if you are poor you really just don't deserve medical coverage? Would he say that it is stealing to share the medical risk in a larger pool? Would he say that insurance and medicine works just fine as it is right now, no worries, the free market will figure it out, and move on? I doubt it. My understanding of Jesus' message was love and inclusion, not one of hoarding, exclusion and greed.

Anyway, my point: government can do good things. There's no rule that says government screws everything up. Guess what? Most of our country still functions THANKS to our Federal government. Is it perfect? Show me anything made by people that is perfect. None of us walked out as Nazis or socialists, thank you. I still believe in a free market!

Here's the thing: no plan I've seen thus far addresses the issue of scarcity. The fear is we'll all be subject to long waits. Well, we need more doctors. We can't get more until we improve education AND cap malpractice lawsuits. I'm a big consumer advocate but lawsuits are driving up the cost of insurance, which drives up the cost of being a doctor, which drives up scarcity and cost. In my opinion the lynchpin to solving this mess is fixing scarcity and the insurance cost. At that point the government can take a big step back... But it can always remain an option of last resort for those who can't help themselves. Would Jesus turn those people away?

Fake News Headlines

Something I did for fun...

Natural forces irritate thousands, harm only a handful

Politician noted for wrongdoing

What your health won't tell you but our Google search will

One group of people object to something another group finds acceptable

Creepy guy said and did a lot of crazy stuff, say investigators

Pseudo-celeb marries athlete while genocide occurs on the other side of the world

TV information that is relevant to bored people

True crime story!

Sport involves one team beating the other in points-making

Movie actor has largely forgotten what it was like to struggle to pay his cell phone bill

Know what else Hitler did?

There's a lot of comparison to Hitler and Obama these days because Hitler happened to enact socialist reforms in post WWI Germany (he wasn't the only one, but let's ignore the bulk of the facts for now as is common these days). But you know what else Hitler was besides a dreaded SOCIALIST? Even worse: he was a dictator.

What happens in a dictatorship? Well, look to Iran, North Korea and other dictatorships around the world (Venezuela is coming up fast in the ranks). What they aim to do is this:
1) Limit or prohibit free press
2) Limit or prohibit alternatives to their governance

So when people from 2001-2008 said it was "unpatriotic" to criticize the war, the government or the president, I say that PROHIBITING such criticism by means of intimidation (which is happening on the streets of Venezuela today) and flag-waving is very un-American. If you wave the flag, you gotta take the heat. It's the American way.

Also, when people act like their side can't win if the other doesn't completely lose I say this behavior is un-American. We are a nation built on the idea that many different people can live together in some manner of civility. We are looking at the beginnings of a new civil war if we continue to say that the other side "must be crushed" or completely eliminated.

Really? A one party system? Look gang, the USSR fell in my lifetime and I happen to remember what a one-party system looks like. It's COMMUNISM, boogabooga!

But seriously, as Americans we need to elevate the debate. Rise above the fear and get the facts. Quit acting like the other side is out to deliberately destroy America somehow. We're all here, we're all in this together, and we may differ on what to do but that doesn't mean we shouldn't continue to press forward.

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said,
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

Maybe someday we'll get there.

Kris Kendrick dies

Mr. Kendrick had an impact in my life because of the work he did. He once allowed us to make a movie in a location I didn't think would be possible to get. He believed in downtown. And of course, I once partied my butt off at the Lord Lindsey. He will be missed.

Here's the story on KnoxNews.